To Love A Princess In A Tower
by Nikki Flinn
Summary: Post DH but pre epilogue. Ginny and Harry divorce and Ginny realizes just what was wrong with her life. Thanks to Vivienne, my wonderful beta!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is going to be bloody massive. Each chapter will cover two months in a year and I hope to cover ten years with this fic. Like I said, massive. In any case, some chapters will be shorter than others, so be careful. Oh, and my older, finished fics will shortly be moved to an archive on here. I'll have the link up on my bio pretty soon here.

January 3rd, 2007

Ginny blew the strand of hair angrily from her face, glaring whole heartedly at the man she had sworn to honor and cherish.

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" she snarled at him.

Harry winced, glancing over his shoulder at the room where their children slept. Ginny grabbed his chin and forced his gaze back to her.

"They can't help you Harry. Now what the hell does this mean?"

She slapped the papers she was holding onto the table. Harry glanced at them and resisted a groan. He hadn't meant for her to find them. Ever. It had been a mistake to even ask his lawyer for them; he realized that now. But Ginny was so stubborn and abstinent some times that...

He looked up to meet his wife's eyes. Eyes that held no understanding. He definitely wasn't getting any tonight.

"Ginny, it was a mistake."

"What was? Marrying me or filing for divorce?"

"I didn't file for divorce!" He hissed shoving the papers at her.

She scanned the papers, her lips set in lines of bitter determination.

"You just thought about it."

"Yeah, Ginny. I did. It was a mistake, okay? It was that week when we--" He stopped knowing instantly he had gone to far.

"You mean the week I stayed with my brother?" Ginny whispered. "The week you slept with Morgan? Is that the week you're talking about?"

Harry winced again. "I told you it was a mistake!" He hissed.

Ginny stared at him in disgust. "So was marrying you."

She pulled her wand and aimed it at the papers. She spoke a single word and the blank lines filled in with her delicate, spidery writing. "Fortunately, that's one I can fix."

January 23

Ginny kissed James on the forehead.

"I don't want you to go Mommy!" He protested.

Lily and Albus echoed the words, wrapping their little arms around their mother's legs.

Ginny smiled sadly at her children. James was the spitting image of his father, even at nine. She reached up and messed his black hair around. He smiled bravely and reached up to fix it. Albus had his mother's freckles and eyes but his father's hair. Lily had no freckles but had the same coloration as her mother. Ginny hugged them.

"I know dears. But I can't take care of you by myself. Your father can. I will visit you, you know that!"

"I know, Mummy," Lily whispered. "Do you and Daddy stop fighting now?"

Ginny glanced back at the man she had spent all her life wanting and the last ten years trying to drag out of his past. She had no desire to leave her children with a man caught up in his own demons, but she had no choice. Harry hadn't wanted her to get a job until the kids were in school and she had obliged. She had nothing to rely on.

"Yes, darling. For now."

February 14

" 'Dromeda! I can't let you do this!" Ginny protested as her godson ran around helping (hindering actually) the movers as they brought the new set of drawers and the bed into the room Andromeda Tonks was insisting Ginny use.

Andromeda waved a hand dismissively. "Tish, tosh! Ginevra, I'm an old woman without much time left on this earth. I should be able to do what I want. And what I want is for you to stay here with Teddy and I until you get back on your feet."

"Andromeda!" Ginny began again.

"Darling girl," Andromeda said, taking Ginny's face in her hands. "Teddy absolutely adores you. And this will let you see your children more often."

Ginny bit her lip. In the half month since her divorce she had only seen her kids twice. It nagged on her often, the feeling of abandoning them to her crazy ex. Who apparently was seen cavorting of late with the same Morgan he slept with three years prior.

"Andromeda... "She sighed. "It seems you win, for now. But I can't stay here forever!"

"Why on earth not?" The older lady asked, scooping her grandson into her arms. "I know Teddy could never be in any better hands then yours."

Ginny gasped. "You can't mean..."

"But I can. Ginny, my dear, you will inherit Tonks manor and will hold it until Teddy comes of age. And even when he does, you will have a substantial portion of the Tonks fortune."

"But... well, no offense, but I didn't think Ted had that much," Ginny said chucking Teddy under the chin so the boy laughed and turned his hair bright pink.

"Oh, he didn't, dear. With Bella dead, the entire Black fortune comes to me. You see, Narcissa didn't want any of it, having married so nicely, and dear Sirius couldn't inherit anything when he was imprisoned, wrongly or so they now say. So the entire fortune comes to me now that Bella is out of the picture."

"I thought Harry was getting Sirius's half," Ginny said as another set of movers brought in a writing desk and full sized mirror.

"I hope you don't care about the placement, dear. Technically the portion Harry was to inherit doesn't exist, since Sirius was cut out of the will when he was imprisoned. Well, I certainly didn't care. Harry however says he has too much money as it is and he asked only for the house."

Ginny nodded. Harry never had the problem with money.

(A/N: What do you think? Should I keep it up?


	2. Chapter 2

April 19

Draco Malfoy growled incoherently at his son.

"Com'on, Dad! You promised you'd take me to the game today!" Scorpius protested as his father buried his head under the goose feather pillow.

"Son, there comes a time in every young man's life-" He began in a muffled tone.

"When that man has to accept that he can't get everything. Yeah, yeah, Dad. I've heard it before. But you promised!"

Draco sighed. When the kid used that tone, he couldn't resist. And he was right, he had promised.

He sat up. "Alright, I'm up, I'm up."

Scorpius gave him a smirk and Draco had to resist scooping the boy up and tossing him around. His son was eight now and he wouldn't take kindly to such public displays of affection.

Then again, they were at home...

Scorpius shrieked as his father pulled him into the bed, growling like a bear and tickling him.

If one had said to Draco ten years ago that he would be here, playing with his son like a maniac, he would have laughed at you. Quite loudly. But when Scorpius's mother, Daphne Greengrass died in child birth, his son suddenly became everything to him. There was nothing he denied his son for long. His own father was suspicious of his means of raising the boy but Draco stoically ignored him.

His mother was constantly trying to get him married again. Something about more grandchildren though she pretended it was because she wanted Scorpius to have a mother. Draco really wasn't all that interested but he dutifully went on a date or two a year to keep her from doing anything drastic.

Draco threw his son over his shoulder and carried the young boy down to the kitchen. The elves fluttered about, fixing a small feast for the two blonds.

"Dad!" the boy protested. "Shouldn't I be getting ready?"

"You are. Everyone needs breakfast."

April 19, 12:30

Draco felt his son latch his hands around his neck and adjusted the boy so he wasn't choking his old man. "Where, Dad?"

Draco let go of one hand to point to the Quidditch Pitch and the seven beautiful women flying in. Draco knew most of them weren't really that good looking, but the Hartford Sirens had a reputation to maintain.

"Now if you'll let me, I'll sit down and explain it to you."

Scorpius rolled his eyes as his father deposited him in his chair. "I already know all this, Dad."

Draco resisted a smile. He knew his son did, but he enjoyed the conversations they had here, standing before the field.

"So tell me then."

Scorpius scooted forward in his chair, his little legs not quite meeting the floor. "That's the Seeker," he said, pointing to the first woman, a long haired beauty who Draco had met on occasion.

"And what does she do?" Draco asked, leaning forward as well.

"She looks for the snitch. If she can catch it her team most likely will win."

"And the others?"

As his son rattled off the different team members and their uses, the Chudley Canons came out. Draco scanned the audience, looking to see if any of the Weasley brood was out. He found Ron immediately, holding one of his sons while his wife held a girl about Scorpius's age. A decidedly wicked thought came to him. He laughed shortly.

Scorpius looked at his dad. "Dad?"

"Oh? Sorry. It's nothing."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, something he was becoming entirely too good at. Draco continued to scan the crowd, looking for a face he thought he was finished searching for.

She was married. It was time to move on.

But he didn't find it. He frowned, finding Potter's face. He had his three kids and his godson Teddy Tonks. Teddy looked irritated by something or other. Draco raised an eyebrow at that. Teddy was nearing his birthday, wouldn't the kid be happy? Hell his godfather had gotten him from school just for the occasion.

Draco studied Harry. He looked upset about something.

Where was Ginny?

April 23

Ginny tucked the pencil behind her ear and, bestowing a beautiful smile on the trio of school boys. They blushed and whispered amongst themselves as she walked over to the bar. Madam Rosemerta smiled at her as she filled the orders.

"You're wonderful out there, Ginny."

Ginny pushed her bangs back. "Thanks. How's Dumbledore?"

"I'm doing just fine." Alberforth hollered from the kitchen.

Rosemerta rolled her eyes. "So he keeps saying."

She glanced beyond her prize waitress. A look crossed her face. "Now there's something you don't see everyday."

Ginny turned and her breath caught. Draco Malfoy was standing at the end of the dinning hall. He was talking to a boy who looked exactly like him. The boy was wearing Muggle clothes, as was Draco and holding a blood pop.

Ginny hastily turned away.

"Oh, god, oh god, oh god." She whispered.

Rosemerta raised an eyebrow. "That bad? I can have Any it when she gets in."

Ginny squared her shoulders. She wouldn't do that to Any. "I think I can handle it."

Rosemerta looked doubtful, but handed her the orders for a table.

Ginny balanced the plates, smiling charmingly at the Hogwarts students as they blushed and thanked her. She knew she probably would be the first crush for a fair deal of these boys but she didn't particularly mind. They would get over it.

She refused to let her smile falter as she reached Draco. He had stopped talking to the child she assumed was his son and was studying her with those gray eyes that caused her so much heart ache sixth year.

She transferred her gaze to the boy who looked like the human embodiment of Puck of Shakespeare fame. He smiled charmingly at her.

"Welcome to the Three Broomsticks. Would you like a booth or a table?" She asked charmingly.

The boy tugged his dad's hand and gave a mock glare. Draco glanced at him with a half smile. Ginny nearly fainted. Did he actually care for his kid? Be still her heart.

"Booth!" the boy yelled as Draco commented calmly, "Table."

Ginny almost giggled at the staring contest that ensued. Who knew Malfoy would actually grow up to be a good father?

"Booth it is." Ginny announced, marching off.

"What? Why do you take his side?" Draco demanded as they followed.

Ginny glanced back at him. "I thought it was painfully obvious."

She looked at the kid. "He's much cuter, the cuter one always wins."

888

Draco watched her stealthily as she brought them their orders. His son was ecstatic about having finally been taken to the legendary Hogsmeade and was yammering on to the girl every chance he got.

Ginny laughed beautifully at everything Scorpius said, knowing some how just when to take him seriously. Well she would, Draco thought. She's got three of her own.

So why wasn't she wearing her ring?

When he got home that evening he put his son to bed with strict instructions to stay there. He knew the boy wouldn't listen, but it was worth a shot. He moved into his room which was really little more than a study. Books and newspapers were piled haphazardly about. All part of his work.

Draco never thought to work until his son was born. He didn't need the money or anything, but suddenly there was just the desire to be someone his son could be proud of.

It had started when he decided to get up with Muggle technology. He had gotten a computer. As the Web grew, the Wizarding World was faced with the issue of trying to communicate through it without giving themselves away to Muggles.

Draco had discovered the means to let the Wizarding World use the Web without being targeted by witch wannabes. Any one wishing to use the Web as and access their sites could not do so. To get to them you had to have your name already in the system. Draco had painstakingly drug to light the names of every witch and wizard in the world, granting them access should they decide to join.

There had been problems right from the beginning. No one bought that he just wanted the names for this purpose. The Ministry told him if he could perfect the method they would help him.

First Draco created a website that the user had to go to, to get their name and their access granted. The site however became too much hassle. It took Draco three years but eventually he created a Web within the Web. One that only Wizards were allowed on.

The next problem arose when he thought how to get them all on and make sure it was just them. He had been pounding out the issue one day when he dropped a few dragon scales on the keyboard. In addition to having a floating keyboard, Draco had his answer.

Each computer was charmed by a Ministry official to recognize the user as either a wizard or a witch. If it did not recognize you, the computer would take you to the regular internet. Some wizards had regular internet as well as the magical one and the number was growing each year.

Draco's work still wasn't done though. While most everyone used the internet he had created, no one quite knew what to do once they got there. For three months the only things on his internet were what he put up there. Finally he got permission from the Quibbler and the Daily Prophet and began putting up old articles online.

The Quibbler took over from there and shortly after they had their own website. Other companies took the hint and the Web boomed. Draco still wasn't entirely pleased. A great deal of smaller newsletters had refused to build their own sites. Draco had spent the past three years painstakingly wheedling permission from them to create sites for them. Draco also found that once the sites were up, the owners found it easier to take control of it from him.

Draco now moved aside a stack of Tolkein's Wizards, a Russian newsletter, and the Russian dictionary he had stacked at the computer. So far he had almost seventeen countries online. The sites were designed to translate into what ever language the user spoke, but the only catch was they had to be entered in English. This newsletter had decided to let Draco do all the grunt work and he had been working on this project for almost three months now and only had six journals online.

Draco navigated his way to the main search engine, another of his pet projects that was getting more and more use each day and typed in Ginny Weasley.

He winced as over a thousand articles came up. He moved back to the main menu and clicked the options menu. The menu came up and he narrowed his search to anything that did not include her marriage.

The list dropped to less than a hundred. Out of curiosity he refined his search, typing divorce in as well. He was mildly surprised to see a small article in the Quibbler about her divorce from Harry Potter. The article was written by Luna Lovegood and supremely biased, but managed all the facts accordingly. Ginny had moved out and was staying with Andromeda Tonks and Ginny's own godson, Teddy.

Draco returned to the list of articles. The Daily Prophet hadn't even covered it. He tried his search again, using Potter's name instead. This time over twenty articles came up. The Quibbler was the only one that mentioned Ginny by name. In the rest, she was merely the former Mrs. Potter or Miss Weasley.

Draco pulled up an article on their marriage. He leaned back, studying the pretty girl in the picture.

"What did he do to you, Little Red?" He whispered.

(A/N: Whew! Super long chapter here! I bet no one will complain about chapter length for this sucker! Once again thanks to my awesome beta on this one. Also, seeing as this chapter took me three days to write, this will be the only update today!

To crookshanks- Thanks! I hate weak Ginny but sometimes I write her that way to keep myself amused. Go figure.


	3. Chapter 3

May 31

Ginny yawned as she leaned against the table. She glanced at her watch. Her shift was just about over. The Three Broomsticks was entirely deserted for the final day of school.

She glanced up as the front door swung open and a small bundle of jeans and floppy pink hair rushed at her. Ginny braced herself, catching her godson and swinging him around as the twelve year old crowed with glee.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded of the boy as she set him down.

Teddy grinned and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. Parvati Patil, in the robes she wore as Divination teacher at Hogwarts, smiled tightly at Ginny. Parvati and Ginny had never been great friends, especially as Parvati saw Ginny as stealing Harry.

"Professor McGonnagall thought it would be fine for Teddy to come straight here rather than have to send him home and then you would have to go get him."

Ginny smiled. "Thanks, Parvati."

Parvati managed a real smile. "Don't mention it. I heard Harry's going to be out of town all summer."

Ginny nodded, "He's traveling with the Sirens."

Rosemerta came out from behind the bar. "Which reminds me," She handed Ginny an envelope. "That's your last paycheck till fall."

Ginny stared at her. "What? But I thought-"

"If you're having your kids for the summer, you don't need to be working. If I know Andromeda, she has a summer of fun planned for you and the kids. Go. Have a great summer. And if you ever drop in, the check's on the house."

Ginny smiled gratefully and scooped up her godson. "Thanks. Both of you."

June 1

Ginny squealed in glee as she opened the door. "Mione!"

She threw her arms around the older woman who laughed. "Down, Ginny! Your brother might get jealous."

Ginny released her and turned to her brother who was trying to keep his children in order. "Hey, Ron."

He met her eyes and smiled, shifting Hugo in his arms so he could hug his kid sister. "How are you Gin?"

Ginny felt her smile falter slightly. She wanted to tell him everything but she didn't need her brother going over protective and running off to Spain to kill Harry.

"As well as can be expected." She looked past him to Rose, the birthday girl.

"Hey, girly. How are you?"

Rose giggled madly. "What did you get me, Aunt Ginny?"

Ginny faked surprise. "Was I supposed to have gotten you something? Why would I do that?"

Rose giggled again, "Silly! It's my birthday!"

"Is it now? Well, we'd better get you in here then!"

Ginny led the girl into the kitchen where the entire Weasley clan was gathered. It was the first time Ginny had been together with all her brothers since the divorce and she felt the need to cry. She swallowed it and focused on her niece. This was Rosy's day.

888

Ginny sighed, dumping the load of dishes in the sink. She considered using a spell to wash them, but her mother was having a grand time with her grandkids and Ginny needed some time to herself.

Ginny filled the sink with water, adding soap 'til there was a good inch and a half of suds at the top. She was half way through the dishes from lunch when Hermione came in, carrying a load from Rose's cake and ice cream.

"Hey, Gin."

"Hey, Mione. Just set them there, okay?"

Hermione set the plates on the counter then leaned against it. "Are you okay?"

Ginny gave a small flicker of a smile. "Actually? I'm better than I thought I would be. I thought I would fall apart, but I guess I know I can't. And thanks again for everything. You have been wonderful."

"What about my husband?" Hermione asked, a familiar twinkle in her brown eyes.

"Eh, he's okay too."

Hermione laughed, "Well at least he's not trying to kill your ex."

Ginny smiled, "It's been a long time since he's actually tried to kill any of my exes. It's nice to know he still cares."

Hermione hugged her sister in law. "Ron always cares. And so do I. You know to say if you need anything."

Ginny laughed this time, "Between you and Andromeda, I would never move an inch for the rest of my life."

Ginny placed the last dish in the strainer before grabbing a towel to dry her hands. She moved to rejoin the party, but something crossed her mind.

"Hey, Mione, you know just about everything, don't you?"

Hermione tapped her nose disapprovingly. "It's talk like that, that gets you no where."

"I'm being serious. I ran into... well, I might as well tell you. I ran into Malfoy the other day at work."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes, and I forbid you to tell Ron," Ginny said quickly, realizing what was going on in Hermione's head.

Hermione gave a slight pout then turned her attention to her new task. "You know the WWW? The Wizarding World Web? He's entirely responsible for that. He married Daphne Greengrass straight out of school. They had a son, or so I've been told. He's about Rose's age now. Actually, I've been trying to arrange a play date or something. His wife died in childbirth. His parents live in France now, or so I'm told," Hermione rattled off the information like one would read an article in the newspaper.

Ginny raised her eyebrows appreciatively. "I had no idea he was that into Muggle things."

"I don't think he is. He says he started the WWW more out of boredom than anything else. He must have been pretty bored. A few of the guys in my department worked trying an upgrade the other day. Took them all day and they got nowhere. Word is Malfoy will have to come in and do it. But why this curiosity?" Hermione grinned, "Do you fancy him?"

Ginny laughed the accusation off but scenes from her sixth year, like an old movie you couldn't quite bring yourself to turn off, flashed through her mind.

June 21

"Dad! Dad! Daddadadadadadadadadadadadad!"

Draco tore his eyes away from the monitor to look at his son.

"Oh? Are you awake then?" He had woken up at six that morning but let the boy sleep.

"Fireplace!" Scorpius shouted.

Draco blinked, "Why, yes, son, we have several fireplaces here at Malfoy Manor. What a wonderful observation."

"No, dad! Someone's at the fireplace for you!"

Draco smiled. He might have known. Scorpius loved the idea that people could contact them through a fireplace. Draco knew it would wear off as the boy got older, but for now, he'd let him have his fun.

Thinking about age, Draco glanced at his cluttered desk top. He moved his coffee mug to cover the list of presents he had planned for his son's ninth birthday, which was coming this August.

Draco let his son lead him into the main living room (Malfoy Manor had seven) Sure enough, a green fire burned in the hearth. Though her face was averted, looking at something behind her, Draco instantly recognized Hermione Granger.

He coughed. Her head spun around and she gave him a professional smile. "Mr. Malfoy."

"So I get a title, do I?" Draco joked.

She gave him a slight glare. "Look, I don't like you and you don't like me. So let's skip the insults and I'll just tell you what I need." She paused for a second to allow him time to try to insult her. When he didn't she continued, "We in the department for Muggle Affairs are trying to set up a question/answer kind of thing on the WWW. We've been trying for almost a month, but none of us can figure a damn thing about it. We need you to come over and fix it."

"Alright, I can be there this afternoon and-"

"You didn't let me finish. The Minister has decided we need a full time expert on the WWW."

"No one can be an expert-"

"Except you. So we need you to train someone to answer basic questions and such, so we don't have to run to you ever ten minutes. So we need to set up a week for you to come over and train him."

Draco glanced at his calendar. "How's the second week in July?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "You picked that at random, didn't you?"

Draco resisted a smirk. He had, of course. He also knew Granger had her anniversary sometime around then. "Look I won't dig into your social life. Now how does that sound?"

Hermione pursed her lips then nodded. "Alright."

"Wait," He said as she turned away. "Who's my protégé?"

She grinned. "Dennis Creevey."

(A/N: Ah, I love working on this fic. Really and truly.


	4. Chapter 4

July 19

"Only three more hours," Draco muttered as he showed Creevey for the twelfth time how to properly save the web page they had spent the last hour creating. The first time he did it, he had made the mistake of going all out and creating a beautiful web page. He had saved it then attempted to show the little rat how to save the page. Predictably, Creevey hadn't managed. Draco hadn't panicked. He had saved it as a back up file. But that wasn't the end.

Over the following ten minutes, Creevey managed to kill seven different files as well as three web pages. It was at that point, Draco broke out the heavy artillery. He used his flash drive.

Now, Draco was about ready to call it quits. This was the last thing he had to teach the kid and it was the one thing the boy kept getting wrong.

Draco nearly cried as the page came up. "Thank bloody god." He muttered.

"Now do I just-"

"DON'T _TOUCH_ ANYTHING!" Draco yelled. Creevey froze.

"This is the _only_ time you've gotten this far and I will be damned if I let you screw it all up now. Now then, watch this..."

The tutelage of Creevey was supposed to be a five day thing. Draco was closing in on the tenth day.

"And now, you have it backed up. And," Draco pulled his flash drive from the computer. "If you happen to kill it again, I will send you a copy of it. You do remember how to open files, right?"

"Uh... right!"

Draco sighed, "Well that's it. That's all I have to teach you. That's all. I am going. I am gone!"

Hermione walked into the room at that point, holding a mug of tea. "Oh? Are you finally finished-"

She didn't get any further, for at that moment she tripped. Draco watched in horror as the entire mug of steaming tea fell onto the tower of the Dell, killing it more effectively than Creevey ever could.

"Oh! What...?" Hermione stuttered.

Draco sighed, "Granger, do you have another computer?"

August 4

Ginny glanced up from the magazine she was reading as Teddy bounded into the room. "Ginny!"

"Yes?"

"Phone!"

Ginny gave him a smile and made her way into the living room, taking the wireless phone from table. "Hello?"

"HELLO?"

Ginny put the phone as far from her ear as she could as Ron screamed into it.

"HELLO!? GINNY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Ronald Weasley! Stop yelling this instant. Give me that!" Hermione's voice suddenly filled the phone. "Ginny? Sorry about that. I still can't get him to work these things out."

"No problem, Mione. What do you need?"

"Well, Dennis needs someone to work out the new program his department got. Ron says you're the best with that sort of thing."

"What kind of program?" Ginny waved as Andromeda returned with the kids. They had gone out shopping for the fall.

"It's a graphic design program called Dazed or something..."

"DAZ? DAZ Studio?" Ginny prompted.

"That's the one. Well Dennis's trying to figure out the program. He wants to make an avatar or something."

"Okay, what do you need me to do?"

"Well, I was going to have you lock him up in a closet so he doesn't destroy the computer but I... think... I'm... too late..." Hermione replied sounding slightly distracted. "Yup, he's killed it."

Ginny looked at the phone for the first time and saw her friend was calling from her job.

"Do you know anyone who can draw us some specs?" Hermione asked.

Ginny was momentarily distracted as Lily and James began fighting. She pressed the phone to her ear with her shoulder and lifted James up and over her shoulder. She used the other arm and took Lily under it, carrying them into the kitchen.

"Well, I can try something. I'm not terribly good, but I can at least get you some conceptual sketches."

"That would be wonderful and-- RONALD _**WEASLEY**_! I ABSOLUTELY **FORBID** YOU TO TOUCH THAT COMPUTER!"

"But, Mione! It's dead!" Ron protested from the back ground.

"Ever heard of death spasms?"

"No..."

"I'll show you one if you touch it again. Sorry, Ginny. We just need a few pictures of some wizards. Witches too. We're looking for just an avatar or two."

"Sure thing, Mione. How big?"

"I don't really care. Thanks so much an-- DENNIS CREEVEY! I _KNOW _WHERE YOU **_LIVE_**, IF YOU EVEN _**THINK**_ OF TRYING THIS AGAIN I WILL TURN YOU INTO A TOAD AND I WILL **NOT** FIX IT!"

"Bye Mione."

"Bye Ginny, thanks again."

August 23

Ginny answered the phone groggily. "What?"

"Ginny! Did you do these pictures yourself?"

Ginny glared at the clock but got out of bed, making sure not to wake up Lily who had slept with her the night before. "Mione, it's six in the morning. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Those avatars I had you draw a while back."

"Mione, that was almost a month ago. You're just getting to it?" Ginny replied with a yawn.

"I know, I know. But Ron's killed three computers and Dennis three. And then Colin came over and in the course of an afternoon killed all seven of our computers."

"I'm beginning to think God doesn't want the Wizarding World to be computerized."

"Tell me about it. But did you do these pictures? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I drew them. Sorry they aren't that great. Why?"

"Not that great? Ginny these are fantastic!"

"Really? I mean..."

"Ginny, have you ever considered doing this professionally?"

"I... I didn't think there was much of a market for any of it..."

"Are you kidding? Madam Malkin was looking at these the other day and she said she would be interested in commissioning you to do promotional sketches for her. And she said some of the others in Diagon Alley would be interested in it as well. You don't have to give up your current job. You could just do this as a side job."

Ginny bit her lip. It was a tempting offer. "Can I think about it some?"

"Think all you like. But do I have your permission to post the avatars? I'll credit you."

Ginny nodded then remembered Hermione couldn't see her. "Yeah, that'd be fine."

"Great. You still have that e-mail I set you up?"

"Yeah."

"Keep an eye on it. I'll post it as how to get in contact with you."

(A/N: You like it? I love writing for computer savvy Draco trying to teach Dennis and company. :3


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: I'm sure you guys have figured out by now that I'm not sticking to canon. In fact, I looked up everyone in the HP lexicon and found just how wrong I am. (laughes) Astoria is a real person from the HP universe by the way. Other than that, I think I'm gonna stick to non canon)

September 13

Draco yawned and signed onto his computer. He glanced at his watch. He knew he should get to bed, but Granger had just called to tell him that the site had been officially running for a month now. It had to be some kind of record.

Draco navigated his way to the site and blinked in surprise at the picture that occupied the left panel. That was new. He studied it. It was a simple water color of a young witch with her wand drawn. On the right side was another water color, this of a wizard with his wand out. He viewed them appreciatively. They were actually quite good.

He scrolled to the bottom of the page, searching the information there 'til he found what he was looking for. He blinked again. Since when was Ginny Weasley an artist?

There was a link for her web page. Draco followed it and managed his way into her art gallery. There were only a few images but all were equally impressive. He hovered over an image of a young wizard then returned to her main page, clicking this time on the news. There was only a little, merely saying that she would have a new image appearing in the fall for Madam Malkin.

Draco leaned back. What a curious world I live in, he thought.

September 29

Ginny's pen flew over the pencil lines she had drawn over three weeks ago. She had penciled the sketch then colored it with watercolors and was now about to go over the lines with her pen. This was the easiest part of the job. She loved it dearly for it meant this commission was almost finished.

"Ginny, break's over."

Ginny blinked up at Madam Rosemerta then looked at the clock. She sighed, realizing she had just spent her entire lunch break working on the new menus for The Hog's Head.

Rosemerta smiled understandingly at Ginny. "Sorry. It'll slow down later today if you want to get something to eat."

Ginny smiled back, stretching. "Sounds great."

She stood up; tying on her apron and slipping her pad and pen back in it. Double checking she had everything she needed, she ran her hands over her skirt, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in the light fabric. Then with a bright smile, she stepped back into the main dining area.

Since she started doing commissions, she had taken Harry back to court to get half custody of the kids. She now had the kids every other week and over the major holidays. It was a small victory for Ginny, who wanted the kids full time, but it was enough for now.

Ginny greeted a young couple at the doors, leading them back into the booths. As the couple jabbered away, Ginny's mind drifted off to the recent set of commissions that had come in the other day. She was charging ten dollars for an eight by ten inked art. Thirty for a water color and more for other mediums. Oil paintings ran highest for her even though they were the best of her pieces.

The other day she had gotten the request for seven oil paintings. All told that commission would run well into five grand based on the sizes and subject matter. Ginny charged slightly higher for portraits and all seven were portraits of prominent members of a local Wizarding council. Ginny had sketched the basic subject matter but it would be a few more months before the paintings were complete. She also had the new menus for the Hog's Head plus she was illustrating several children's novels. The children's novels were only pen and ink drawings but at ten dollars a piece, with more than fifty illustrations per book, she would be making enough to buy a new car if she wanted too.

Ginny liked driving, she had found. It helped also, that she could just apparate herself and the car home if she ever didn't feel like driving. Currently she was driving a twelve year old Bug that Andromeda had bought her for her birthday. Her kids loved cars too and reveled in a chance to have her drive them anywhere. Which wasn't hard. Andromeda lived near a Muggle section and it would look a little conspicuous if she just appeared somewhere via apparating.

James loved cars, which Ginny found delightfully normal for a boy. She had recently bought them all presents to celebrate her new job/pastime. She had gotten James several sets of Matchbox cars. Lily had gotten a new doll and Albus several picture books. Of the three, he was the most inclined to be found curled up around a picture book. He was still a bit too young to be reading on his own, but he loved it when Ginny read to him.

In return, the kids had teamed up with Andromeda and Teddy (who Ginny had bought an action figure) and made her dinner and a cake.

Ginny snapped out of her thoughts as her stomach rumbled. She glanced at the clock, surprised to see almost three hours had passed since her lunch break. It was now past three and missing lunch was catching up to her.

She missed a beat as she turned to see who she had left seat. Standing in the door way, was Draco Malfoy. His son was missing from the picture today and Ginny somehow felt much less secure of her ability to fend off thoughts of sixth year.

"You want me to take tall, pale and divinely good looking?"

Ginny turned to Kira Carmichael, a local wizard girl who graduated a few years after Ginny. She was a little too young to have known Draco well.

Ginny smiled. "He's out of your league, Kira. Try table five."

Kira swung her head around, her black curls bouncing prettily to see several men, only a few years older than she was, casting glances her way and talking. When they saw she was looking, they hurriedly looked away and talked louder. Ginny had just seated them a few minutes ago and they had all argued about who she liked better the moment she was gone.

Kira grinned wolfishly, a trait that defied her Ravenclaw background, and sauntered over to them. Ginny sighed and steeled herself to her fate.

Ginny smiled at him. "Just you?"

To her surprise, he smiled back. "Yes."

She led him back to a table that would have sat two. After taking his drink order, she returned to the kitchen to get it for him. It was slower now than it had been before but it was still too busy for Ginny to take the time to get something real to eat. She grabbed Draco's drink as well as the orders for a few of her other tables.

After delivering the food, she set Draco's drink, a root beer on his table before taking out her pad. "Have you decided?"

"Just a cheeseburger and some fries."

Ginny wrote down the order then found herself pausing inexplicably. "So... where's you son, today?"

Draco smiled, a real, honest to god, smile. "Visiting with his god mother and father, Blaise and Pansy."

Ginny nodded, ready to let the conversation drop. She started to go to the kitchens again, but Draco surprised her by asking, "I heard you tied the custody battle."

Ginny nodded again. "Yeah. I have half custody with him."

Draco smiled with a nod. "I don't think I could have done it."

Ginny stared at him. "You love your son that much?"

He met her eyes with a smile. "Yeah. More than anything else."

Ginny felt her heart stutter. Neither said what they both remembered. That he said that once to her.

Ginny let the rest of the shift pass. Draco spent a lot of time reading some papers as he went. Ginny knew the papers were for his work with the WWW so she let it slide.

She was getting ready to clear his table, noticing he hadn't eaten any of his fries when he stopped her. "Take the fries."

Ginny blinked at him.

"You look hungry, Weasley. Since you provide decent service, I see no reason for you to die of malnutrition."

Ginny took the fries, thinking, _so we're back to this game. _

October 9

Ginny glanced up from the loaf of bread she was working on as George came into the kitchen, holding the phone out to her.

"Phone, Gin," he said.

Ginny made a face at him. "I'm buried in dough."

George looked hesitantly at the whitish sticky dough then at Albus who was happily eating a chunk of it. Ginny sighed and took the dough from her son.

"Keep an eye on him, George."

She cradled the phone against her ear as she wiped her sticky hands on her apron.

"Hello?"

"Ginners!"

Ginny winced, holding the phone from her ear. She glared at George who grinned back childishly.

"Hi Fred," Ginny replied, moving from the kitchen of her parents house to the living room. Over the past ten years the Weasley children had been slowly paying for renovations on their homestead. Since their parents refused to move, the children saw it as the easiest way to help them out.

So the living room as well as every other room in the house had been redone recently.

Ginny ignored the décor and focused on what her brother was saying. She missed seeing the twins. Fred had had a close call during the war and he still walked with a limp but no one was going to sweat that.

Unlike George, now happily married to Angelina Johnson, Fred hadn't settled down yet. Ginny suspected it had something to do with his close call but she wasn't going to say anything about it.

"What's up?" Ginny asked, inspecting the main couch for damage. Her kids were hell on furniture, as were her nieces and nephews so she wouldn't have been surprised to see new damage since she last saw the couch.

"So, would you be willing to work some commissions?"

Ginny tilted her head back, thinking of her load right now. She was working four days a week at the pub. She had three of the seven oil paintings done so far. She had a few more of the illustrations for the kids books but other than a few other independent commissions, she was pretty free, she realized.

"I'm pretty open. What do you have in mind?"

"Oh, not me. You know those drawings you did for our advertisements?"

"Yeah?" Ginny replied absently, flicking her wand to remove a piece of gum stuck in the couch's upholstery.

"Well, this spiffy customer came in and asked if he could know who did them. So I said you."

Ginny frowned, suddenly apprehensive.

"What did this person look like?"

"Guy, early thirties, black hair, Scottish accent. Why?"

Ginny breathed a silent sigh of relief. "No reason. What kind of commissions?" She asked.

"Dunno. I can give you his number."

Ginny jotted down the number as he rattled it off. She made her farewells and thank yous before hanging up. She folded the paper into quarters before putting it in her pocket.

She returned to the kitchen and sighed.

George and Albus were both covered in bread dough. Lily had joined them and was nearly white with flour. The oven was on and Ginny could see something vaguely breadlike trying to escape.

Ginny shook her head and pulled out her wand. Only in the Weasley Family.

October 15

Ginny was folding laundry when the note fell out. As she had a habit of leaving things in her clothes, she had long since put a spell on her washer to detect such items and keep them from getting damaged.

She knelt and picked up the note, unfolding it.

It was the phone number from a few days back.

She frowned down at it, thinking. Maybe she should…

October 21

Draco slung his son over his shoulder as he hummed a pirate tune.

Scorpius, knowing this hallway led to a bedtime, or worse, a bath, decried his condition.

"Dad!"

"Son?"

"I think we should talk about this."

Draco looked at his son, a smile on his lips. "Oh? And why is that, my boy?"

"Because?" Scorpius offered.

Draco felt laughter bubbling up in him but for the sake of his son he kept it down.

"I'm afraid I'll need a slightly more compelling reason for that, my boy."

Scorpius frowned. "What does compelling mean?"

Draco let a single laugh escape then explained the word to his son.

Scorpius pursed his lips and thought. Draco decided to give the boy time, see if he could come up with an answer.

"Because, if I go to bed now, I won't ever see what ten feels like!" Scorpius announced.

Draco nodded, as if this made perfect sense. For the past three years, Scorpius had been going to bed at eight thirty. Draco had decided when he turned ten he would be able to go to bed at nine, which was the time he would have to be in his room at Hogwarts.

Draco was not looking forward to his son going off to school. He wanted Scorpius to have a full education but he was gonna miss the little runt. Draco had yet to let Scorpius stay up past nine thirty. He knew the kid would spend every weekend for the first year or so, staying up as late as he could so he wanted to try and keep him on some sort of schedule.

Scorpius resented it of course, but Draco knew someday the boy would appreciate it... maybe. The Malfoys were notoriously stubborn in admitting that anything had helped them become who and what they were.

So Draco deftly avoided keeping his son up with excuses and uncerimoniously dumped the small boy in the waiting bath, clothes and all.

October 30

Ginny pushed back her hair and knocked on the ornate cherry wood door. She was nervous. If she got this commission she would be closer to getting full custody. She might even be able to get the kids into a nice regular school by her. She believed the kids should have a basic muggle education before they got to Hogwarts.

Harry agreed with her but he refused to believe her that the schools in Worchester, where she lived, were better than the ones by him.

Hermione even agreed that the schools by Ginny were better, and she knew this sort of thing.

Ginny blinked as the door opened and hastily, belatedly, threw up a smile for the young woman there.

"Hullo, can I 'elp you?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of British cockney.

"Yes, my name is Ginevra Weasley and I'm here..."

"Oh! You're 'ere to see Mister O'Rieley."

Ginny nodded dumbly and was promptly swept away by the chipper young maid.

"Oh, 'e'll be so 'appy to see yous! 'E told us yous might be comin' soon likes. 'E wasn't sure when, cuzen you took so longs to answer."

"Taffy, are you torturing the poor girl?"

Ginny looked up as Taffy stopped. They were in a large ball room with a very Tara feeling double staircase coming from the second floor. The room was amazing and Ginny wondered how it compared to the Malfoy Manor.

Standing on the second floor, leaning against the balcony, was a handsome man, about her age. He had longish black hair that kept getting in his face. As with most handsome men Ginny had met, he was smiling slightly, almost arrogantly at her.

"Miss Weasley?"

Ginny nodded as the maid tittered.

"I was rather hoping you'd see fit to return my interest a bit earlier than this," he drawled. No doubt he was used to having girls fall all over themselves for him.

Ginny, used to Malfoy's occasional charm and rediculous good looks, did not even bat an eye, though Taffy fluttered and tittered before excusing herself.

"I'm afraid I had business."

"Business?" He asked, walking down the steps. He had long legs and even in his immaculate suit, Ginny could see he was more than fit.

"My children."

Ginny noted the slight pause in his step as he studied her. She knew she didn't look like a mother of three. In her black slacks and the dark blue top she had chosen her curves were hard to hide.

"I see," He replied, coninuing down the stairs towards her.

"So you understand that should you comission me I will not take time away from my children in order to work on your comission. They come first. They always will."

He nodded, a smile on his lips. Doubtless he wasn't used to girls standing up to his charms. Ginny remembered a similar situation from her past with another rich and arrogant boy but pushed it away.

"My name is Artaz O'Riliey. I believe I would like to comission you."

"Thank you. For what?"

"All in good time. I'm having a party tomorrow and I will need a few days to recover. Let us meet again on the eighth?"

Ginny nodded. She held out a hand. "Wonderful to do business with you."

"I don't suppose I can tempt you to join me at the party?"

Ginny seriously thought for a moment as he clasped her hand. Then she remembered promising to take the kids to Hogsmeade for trick or treating.

"Afraid not."

"Pity."

Ginny resisted the urge to smack him. This was going to take a while.

October 31

If it had been Draco's idea, he would have skipped Artaz's damn party. For seven years Draco had managed to use his son as an excuse to avoid the little shit. Astoria was still trying to get him to use her as rebound sex in replace of her sister. Draco had been trying to explain to the bimbo that it had been seven years since Daphne died and ew.

Unfortunately this year Aunt Andromeda had offered to take Scorpius trick or treating with his cousin Teddy. Draco was trying to get back in touch with that side of his family and he felt it would be good for his son to hang out with some kids his age. He was pretending not to know that Scorpius would be with the Weasley brood, as Ginny was taking the however many kids this year.

Somehow Artaz had gotten wind that Draco would actually be free and drafted him for his Halloween party. Draco had finally given in, on the condition that he had to leave before midnight.

Draco hated Artaz more than anyone else he could imagine. Artaz was a poser, old money with a new face. Normally Artaz would have ostracized Draco because the Malfoy scion had much more money than he did and was widely considered more handsome. Fatherhood had enhanced Draco's charm in the world's view. Unfortuantely for Draco, he knew a few too many secrets to let him just slip quietly into the night. Draco kept these secrets well documented in case Artaz decided to go medieval on him.

Artaz wanted to keep an eye on Draco, but Draco would have been more than happy to just be ignored. Artaz was fortunately absent minded and often did just that, forgetting Draco's entire existence for months on end. He always seemed to remember Draco for his damn parties.

Draco snagged a glass of champagne from Artaz's newest floosy, some bint named Taffy. He absently wondered how many of these things would survive the night, both the glasses and Artaz's girls.

"Draco!"

Draco winced but turned elegantly to Artaz as the Scot in question approached. Astoria Greengrass was clinging desparately to him, hoping to make Draco jealous. For a moment Draco missed Daphne badly. She would have enjoyed this so greatly, mimicking her sister and whispering inappropriate things when ever possible just to make him laugh.

He and Daphne had never been perfect but it had been worth every fight. He missed her with sharp intensity some days and others he went the entire day without even thinking of her.

"Artaz. How nice to see you," Draco drawled, sipping his champagne.

Astoria's eyes brightened at the glass in his hand. He would have told her not to bother if he had liked her. He never got drunk enough to hook up with people at these parties.

"I met an old school friend of yours, Draco." Artaz drawled back.

"Really? Not hard to imagine. I went to school with half of the Ministry. What have they got on you now?"

Artaz lost his control for a moment, a sharp sneer slipping through.

Then he regained it. "Not Ministry. A delightful young lady, name of Ginevra Weasley."

Draco forced himself to shrug as his mind raced. What was Ginny doing here? A comission? He hoped that was all it was. She didn't need Artaz's kind of insanity.

"I suppose I should be moved to care as she is the god mother to my nephew."

Artaz blinked at that and Draco used that as an excuse to glance at his watch. He proclaimed loudly over the time and made his excuses. He waited for the valet to bring around his Mercedes, wondering what Ginny was up to with Artaz and why he cared so much about her lately.

(A/N: Sorry this took so long. I was ready to update then I realized I only had half the chapter finished. So I took a couple days. Any way, I hope to have some more updates for you either later today or tomorrow.

To LolLuna- He's cute. I would not want to work with him in any capacity, though.


	6. Chapter 6

November 13

Ginny flicked her crimson hair out of her face and glowered at the door. The stupid bastard waits almost two weeks to call her then won't answer the door?

Ginny knew about Artaz's parties. They were notorious for their rowdiness.

Ginny couldn't stop thinking about Halloween night. It had been like so many before it yet different. Albus and James had been distant with Scorpius. Not openly antagonistic to him, for they knew Ginny would have sent them home, sans candy, if they had been anything but polite. Lily had been blissfully sweet to him. Teddy had seemed fine with having his cousin along for the ride. Indeed, Teddy and Scorpius had talked almost constantly about Quidditch and minor spells.

Eventually the Quidditch talk had drawn James and Albus in as well and before long they had forgotten everything their father had told them and were chatting nicely.

Scorpius was adorable. Ginny wanted to hug him forever and give him all the love his dead mother no longer could.

Ginny didn't remember much of Daphne from her school years. Daphne had never really bugged Ginny during school. They had been in nuetral ground.

Ginny blinked as the door opened. A very hung over looking Artaz opened the door, glaring blearily at her.

A mother of three and sister to six, Ginny was unsympathetic and pushed past him bruskly. "Well, you dragged me down here. So don't give me that look."

Artaz blinked again. "What the hell are you doing here?" He slurred.

Ginny continued to march past him and into the kitchen. A French looking chef glared at her until she glared back. He went back to his cutting while Ginny poured a cup of coffee.

Artaz reached for the coffee but Ginny merely took a sip of it herself. She knew she was being a bitch, but she felt no need to apologize. She didn't like Artaz for some reason.

Artaz glared at her for an instant then looked at the chef. The chef took the hint and poured a cup for Artaz, adding nothing. Ginny took another sip of her coffee then looked at the chef for permission as she reached for the fridge. He nodded, his face settling into a nuetral look.

Ginny watched Artaz as she poured some cream into her coffee before adding some sugar.

"So, what was this commission you were talking about?" Ginny asked.

Artaz stared at her for a second as she sipped her coffee.

"Damn, was that what we talked about? Right then…" he murmured.

He looked more awake with the coffee in him and he turned to the door. Ginny debated making him wait but then gritted her teeth and followed him.

He led her through the main hall again and into a ballroom of _Beauty and the Beast _proportions. Ginny resisted the urge to stare at the beautiful, vaulted ceiling and balcony overhanging the dance floor. Doubtless that was where the orchestra would be if such a thing were needed.

Ginny could tell that much of the flooring had been replaced. She didn't know what had been there before and was now rich blue with viens of golden in it. The lower panelling of the walls was rich mahoghany and old, as far as Ginny could tell.

Above the panelling was plain white washed walls.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ginny said, turning back to Artaz.

He was smiling now, the coffee fully taking effect.

"I'd like you to paint this whole room."

"No."

"Beg pardon?"

"I agreed to consider this. I won't deny that. I considered it. And I have come to a decision that this is beyond my ability and current time range. This would take too much of my time. Get someone else. Someone without kids."

Artaz held up his hand. "Hear me out."

Ginny crossed her arms and set her feet.

"You can take as long as you like. You can paint whatever you want. All I ask is that you paint the entire thing."

Ginny stared at the walls. It was a lot of room. It would be like painting the Sistine Chapel.

But…those white walls…so much space. So much she could do.

She turned to him. "Fine. But I can only make a few days a week and only a couple of hours. This will take a while. This will not be cheap."

Artaz grinned. "Money, my dear, is not a problem."

November 19

"I don't wanna…" Draco drawled as his son peeked over the edge of the bed.

"Dad…"

"Don' wanna get up…"

"Can we get a dog?"

Draco pushed himself up to a half sitting position, staring incredulously at his son.

"A what?"

"A dog."

"You want…a dog?"

"Yeah."

Draco sat fully up. Scorpius scrambled up into the bed. "Can I?"

"A dog is a big responsiblilty, kiddo," Draco said, meeting his son's eyes.

"I know Dad. But I'll be here for three years before school starts and I was hoping you or Aunt Andromeda could take care of it while I'm off at school."

Draco studied his son. "You thought this out?"

"Yup. I'd like a dog."

"Your birthday was months ago."

"You could get me one for Christmas."

Draco studied his son. "I have a better idea," he said with a smile.

November 20

The dog was a one year old black lab. Almost two feet tall and three long, from snout to tail. It was a he, handsome and barrell chested. It easily weighed more than Scorpius.

Scorpius was calling him Agammemnon.

"Agammemnon?"

"Yup!" Scorpius chirped as the dog bounded across the lawn after the ball Draco had thrown for it.

"Isn't that a little long?" Draco asked, kneeling to retrive the ball from Agammemnon. The dog turned his head away, tail thumping excitedly.

Draco had decided to go with an animal shelter. Agammemnon was from the streets. He had been found wandering a park and Draco had heard about him through Hermione who had always wanted a dog. She had thought a lab was too big for her first dog. She had mentioned it in passing when Draco was servicing the computers in her department.

Draco felt the dog was perfect. Agammemnon was energetic and entirely happy to have a family again. Even now, he was leaning against Scorpius as the boy pet him.

"Maybe. What should we shorten it to?" Scorpius asked.

"I don't know. He's your dog."

Scorpius grinned as Agammemnon kissed his face.

"How about Aggie?"

"Aggie? Isn't that a… girly kinda name?"

Scorpius grinned.

November 23

Ginny wiped her hair from her face as her watch beeped. She was sweating like crazy but she didn't care. Artaz had offered to turn on the AC in the room but Ginny had been fine when she started but now, three hours later, she was covered in sweat.

Her watch was telling her she had twenty minutes to get her stuff together and go get her kids.

She paused, looking at the wall she had been working on. Over the past ten days she had gotten a basic mural done, raw images but no specifics yet. She had imags sketched on all of the walls and a few on the ceiling as well.

So far she had the south wall ready for details. The image was from childhood fairytales. She wasn't sure what had prompted her to decide on these particular images for her subject but somehow she had picked the most morbid moments of her favorite tales.

The scene before her was Snow White and her prince dancing at their wedding. Behind them, the wicked queen was crumpled on the floor, her feet encased in red hot shoes.

Ginny was a little put off by her own morbid mural but she felt only something of this calibre would suit the room.

She glanced at her watch again then grabbed her painter's shirt. She had shed it during the painting, pulling it back on over her camisole.

She capped all her tubes and left her palate out. The paints, oil, would hold until she got back.

From above, Artaz watched Ginny Weasley leave his ballroom. He smiled.

"Well, Draco. I see why you like her."

November 27

"You know, Aggie," Draco said, eyes still closed. "I didn't give you a girl's name. I don't see why you feel the need to sleep with me."

Agammemnon sighed heavily and set his head on Draco's chest.

Draco lifted his head to eye the large dog. Aggie eyed him right back.

There was a sudden bouncing on the bed and Aggie turned his head to lick Scorpius' face. Draco took this opportunity to push himself into a sitting position.

"I thought he was sleeping with you," Draco said.

"He slept most of the night," Scorpius argued.

Draco laughed, petting Aggie. The dog turned and licked him.

Aggie had adjusted nicely. He had gotten the hang of life in the Malfoy house. His only stipulation seemed to be that he wanted to walk…all the time.

Mornings seemed to be his best time.

Draco sighed and heaved himself out of bed. Aggie and Scorpius watched him as he pulled on a pair of jeans before going to the closet for his shoes. Aggie went crazy, jumping off the bed and nosing up to Draco.

Draco sighed as the dog leaned on him as he tried to put on his shoes.

"Aggie, you make this so easy, puppy."

"He likes you dad!"

Draco sighed again. "I'd settle for him letting me put my shoes on."

"Aggie, come."

The dog bounded over to Scorpius who petted him, as he leaned against the bed.

Draco smiled at his son. "Let's get some breakfast."

December 1

"Well, away up north, where the air gets cold," Ginny sang as Rose applied a spatula to the cookies on the tray.

Lily giggled gleefully as she stole a warm cookie.

"Lily! You little deviant!"

Lily laughed as her mother chased her around the kitchen. The kids were staying with Ginny this week, the next with Hermione. Hermione and company were shopping for presents this week. Next week Ginny and Andromeda would be free to shop alone.

Ginny planned to finish off the south wall of the ballroom next week. She was less than seventy hours away from finishing it with over a hundred on each of the walls.

The walls were shaping up nicely. She had a lot of the specifics of the walls done but the details were killing her. She wanted them all perfect. Which meant a lot of time. Still, she knew the piece was going to be wonderful.

Ginny scooped Lily up in her arms as the little girl screamed in delight.

Albus and James scurried into the kitchen closely followed by their cousins. Before long each of the kids had to have a turn flying with Aunt Ginny. By the time Andromeda entered the kitchen Ginny was more than ready for a break.

Andromeda laughed. She gathered Rose and Hugo as well as Mya and Adam. Fred was clinging to Ginny's left leg while James clung to the other. Ginny laughed tiredly. They were pains in the ass some days, but she knew she wouldn't trade her kids for anything.

December 7

Draco yawned and tapped a few more keys. Scorpius was off for the weekend with a pair of distant relatives. Astoria had offered but Draco intended to keep his son as far away from that bitch as he could.

He rubbed his face, trying to focus on the computer and not his sad excuse for a life.

His son was the candle in the darkness and he freely admitted it. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with his spare time when Scorpius started going to school.

Maybe he would try internet chatting, he thought, finishing the newest revision. That was supposed to be fun. And it wasn't like he was actually interested in meeting a soulmate or anything. It would be nice to meet someone who didn't seem to think Man-U was some new body cream.

There had to be some other witch or wizard out there who liked futbol or at least knew what it was. Preferably someone he could talk to about the Manchester United (Man-U) games with but he wasn't going to be picky.

Draco yawned again, flicking his blonde bangs from his face. Out of curiousity he pulled up Ginny's web page again. Her commission status read she was closed and he wrinkled his nose. Doubtless it was for that prat Artaz.

He clicked on the image gallery, glancing at the menus from last time. There were several portraits of her children, most in pencil or pen but a few oils as well, including an oil of Teddy. He also noticed a few pencil sketches of Scorpius, though he was usually was with one of the other kids.

He tried to remember each based on the pictures there. James, Lily and Albus were easy to find in the color sketches. The boys had black hair and James had his father's green eyes, minus the glasses. Albus had his mother's brown eyes but wore glasses. Lily had hazel eyes and bright red hair. All but Lily had the Weasley freckles. They were cute, especially the girl, he thought.

He leaned back, wondering just what kind of mother Ginny was.

December 17

Ginny scowled at Draco from across her coffee. "I think I might kill you."

"All I'm asking for is a simple pen and ink sketch."

"Seven days? You give me seven days to get you a sketch?"

"You already have sketches of Scorpius, just polish it up."

Ginny buried her head in her hands then looked up at him through her fingers. "You have always been and always will be such a pain in my ass."

"Ginny..." he began. He wanted to apologize but he knew it would never stick. It was ages ago and and he had been such a different person. Instead he just gave a half smile and said, "Please?"

(A/N: Okay, no this is not the entire month of december. However, I'm pretty sure you guys can fill in the blanks for the rest of the month, especially the holidays. I hope to have the next chapter up before Xmas for you guys. That should cover January and Febuary of the 2008.

PS Man-U stands for Manchester United. They are a soccer/futbol team in England. One of the more well known teams along with Chelsea.

to wrenbailey: There is so totally a story between D and G. I'll be giving it to you in pieces but You'll get all of it!


	7. Chapter 7

January 13th 2008

Pansy absently petted Aggie as Blaise played with Scorpius in the next room. "It's good to see you, Draco," Pansy commented as Aggie rubbed his head against her leg.

"Good to see you too," Draco commented, as a house elf put a cup of coffee in front of her. She took it with a nod.

"Glad to see you haven't killed you kid yet."

Draco gave a quick grin. "Well, not for lack of trying."

"You don't mean that," Pansy drawled.

"You would think that if you were around for bath time."

Pansy smiled at him then transferred her smile to where her husband played with her god son. "When are you going to find him a new mother?"

"When are you going to have some brats of your own?" Draco returned.

"Touche. Blaise and I were actually talking about me going off the potions."

Draco blinked. His comment had been meant as a joke. Not that he didn't think Pansy wouldn't make a lovely mother. He was pretty sure she would.

"Oh...wow, really? What did you two decide?"

Pansy sighed. "I think we might be ready. Blaise has a good position at the Ministry and my work at the museum is only part time. So..."

"So," Draco concluded. They both looked out at Blaise and Scorpius, thinking different things. Blaise would make a wonderful father of course. Draco wasn't thinking so much about that, but rather that any child they had would change his friends.

January 19th

Ginny sipped the glass of wine before holding it out for yet another toast. Bill and Fleur had eyes only for each other and didn't seem to notice that Fred and George were encouraging toasts or that Charlie, the family light weight was getting more than a little buzzed.

Ginny's mind wasn't on her brother's anniversary party but rather on the new set of commissions. Of the seven children's book she had illustrated last fall, one of them had gone on to wide spread success and Ginny had been asked to illustrate the sequel that was planned.

It was easy enough, she figured. Still, she kept thinking about it. Her commission from Artaz was finished and he had invited her to the grand unveiling at his Valentines Day Party. Ginny was still on the fence about whether she wanted to go. On the one hand, as Hermione reminded her, she needed to get out of the house now so she would have some friends when the kids went to school.

She looked up as Hermione and Ron moved towards her. Ron was looking annoyed and Hermione was looking anxious but trying to hide it under a smile.

"Hi, Mione..." Ginny began, wary of the look on Hermione's face.

"Ginny, we don't want to alarm you, but you should know that there's someone here..."

Hermione's tone clued Ginny in immediately. "Harry? Harry's here?"

Hermione winced. "Yes. You know we didn't invite him. He probably..."

"Knew the date from last year and knows Bill and Fleur always have their anniversary parties here. Simple deduction," Ginny sighed. She had been afraid that something like this would happen at one of the family gatherings. So far this was the first time that Harry had actually come. Not that she was complaining.

Ginny sighed. "I'll handle it."

She set her wine glass on the nearest stationary surface and started through the crowd, her pale blue cotton dress clinging indecently to a figure it no longer fitted. The dress had been from before her children and now her hips and bosom was a little too big for the halter dress.

Still, she strutted across the room in the too small dress. It wasn't hard to find Harry. In a sea of red and blonde hair, his black hair stuck out like a sore thumb.

She wasn't surprised to see a brown haired young woman beside him. Morgan. Ginny resisted the urge to snarl and faced her ex husband with a deliberately neutral face.

His bright green eyes flashed in shock. "Oh, hi, Ginny. I didn't expect you here."

"Andromeda's taking care of the kids," she said, avoiding the question he hadn't asked. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"They're my friends too, Ginny."

"They're my family, Harry. Did you get an invitation?"

"No, he didn't," Bill said, coming over, his blue eyes stormy.

Ginny turned back to her ex. "Harry, I'm going to have to ask you not to come to any of my family gatherings without an invitation. Someone might do something they regret."

She could practically feel the malevolent glares of her siblings, the twins in particular, emanating behind her.

Harry looked around then gave a brief nod. "Okay, Ginny."

That night, Ginny cried herself to sleep.

January 27th

"So...Goosebumps or Myth-o-Mania?" Draco asked. Scorpius looked up at him then back at the shelves of books.

"I'll just leave you to peruse them, then shall I?" Draco said and walked over to the rest of the books. As he went, a display caught his eye.

It was for the sequel to a kids book he had heard about but never picked up himself. The book had looked interesting and now they were advertising that the next one was coming out. Draco had been hearing about it for a while but last he had heard, they hadn't decided on the artist. Based on the large picture of the next cover, they had managed to get the same artist.

There was something familiar about the art, now that Draco thought about it. He studied it for a moment then picked up the book on display and flipped it open.

Illustrated by Ginny Weasley.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered.

"What does that mean, dad?"

Draco started and looked down at his son. Had his kid just heard him swear?

Then he noticed that Scorpius was pointing to a book title. The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket. He sighed with relief and explained it to his son as they went to pick out the first book in the series.

February 1st

Ginny made a face at the invitation. It was the third one that Artaz had sent her. She had already told him she would be going to the stupid party in a couple weeks. She had already confirmed it with Andromeda, even though the kids would be with their father next week.

Andromeda looked up as Ginny entered the kitchen. Lily was giggling like a maniac as she sat on the kitchen counter, banging a pair of pot lids together. James was beating on a upside down pot with a wooden spoon and howling like a wounded beast while Albus shook a box of pasta.

Ginny put a hand over her mouth to hide a smile. Her kids saw her and cheered loudly before James demanded that they do an encore for their mom.

She took a seat at the table and gestured them on.

February 9th

"I'm not coming to your fucking party," Draco growled into the phone.

Scorpius made faces at him from the other side of the sound shield Pansy had put up. Blaise was alternating between making faces with Scorpius and casting loving looks at his now pregnant wife. Pansy, now two weeks pregnant, smiled at her husband and god son.

Draco forced a smile at his son.

On the other end of the phone Artaz was trying his hand at wheedling.

"Draco, I'm only asking you because I want you to meet the woman I plan to marry."

Draco sighed then made a face at his son. "Artaz, you plan to marry every girl you lay your eyes on."

Draco hung up the phone but even as he played with his son, he couldn't help but hope Artaz wasn't talking about Ginny. By the end of an hour, he had convinced himself to swing by the party for a few minutes.

February 14th

The murals glittered in the candle light. Every pair of eyes had scanned them at least once. Whispers about them circulated the room. Ginny eyed them with an appreciative eye. Even in the pale candle light, she could tell she had done justice to the room.

Ginny smoothed out her black jeans and slid out of her black jean jacket, revealing the black tee shirt she was wearing with the skull and crossbones on it. Hermione had given her the outfit as a present. When the older woman had found out that Ginny was going to Artaz's party, she had insisted on getting Ginny the kind of outfit that no one would take notice of.

Sure enough, eyes slid over her as if she wasn't even there. Except for a pair of steely grey eyes.

Draco Malfoy crossed the room and stood before her, smiling slightly. "Interesting choice of clothing."

Ginny looked him up and down appreciatively. He was wearing black slacks and a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and bright red suspenders. He looked sexy.

She touched the red suspenders. "I could say the same of you. Why red?"

"Thought I'd get into the holiday spirit."

She smiled. "I didn't know you came to Artaz's parties."

"I try not to. I'd ask suggest you avoid them in the future."

Ginny smirked. "So why don't you avoid them?"

"Because Artaz needs to be taken down a notch. Constantly."

"And showing up here does that?"

"No, but keeping him from thinking he's the best person ever."

"Not talking about me, are you?"

Ginny turned from Draco to see Artaz approaching them.

"Of course not," Draco drawled in that insolent tone Ginny loved so well.

"So, I see you've met my future wife," Artaz returned.

"Excuse me?" Ginny snapped, looking at him.

He looked at her with surprise. "Ginny, I thought you knew. Oh, girl. It's only a matter of time."

Ginny stared at him. "Artaz, I dislike you. Intensely."

She turned to leave then spun back and slammed her elbow into his eye. "And don't call me girl."

Draco watched with quiet amusement as Artaz crumpled. Astoria scurried over to him. Draco looked away and darted over to catch Ginny. "Nice move, Red."

Her smile was tight and he let her go quickly. "Thanks, Silver."

Draco felt his breath catch. No one had called him Silver in years. Not since seventh year and the Room of Requirement...

February 21st

Ginny groaned and incinerated the letter.

"Something wrong, dear?" Andromeda asked, poking her head into the hall.

Ginny shook her head with a smile and wiped the ashes from her jeans as the door bell rang.

"Can you get that, dear?" Molly called from the kitchen where she was helping Andromeda. Molly and Andromeda had hit it off right away and they spent much of their time together discussing single men for Ginny. They seemed to think that a year was more than enough time to get over her ex husband.

Except for the incident at Bill and Fleur's anniversary party, Ginny actually had been pretty good. She still wasn't sure she was ready to date.

"Sure thing, Mum," Ginny called back, walking down the hall to open the door.

Scorpius Malfoy darted past his father's legs and threw himself around Ginny's. She chuckled and returned the affection before looking up at the father in question. He grinned at her around a large box.

"Want some help with that?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Just show me where to set it up."

"Set what up?" she asked blankly.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Andromeda gushed, scooping her grand nephew up into her arms. "Draco, darling, so glad you could get it here so soon."

"Get what here?" Ginny demanded.

"Why, your new computer," Molly answered, coming into the hall as well. She beamed happily at Draco. "Just take it into the study," she said, leading the way.

"Mum! You can't just buy me a new computer!" Ginny protested, following them.

"Of course we can," Andromeda argued. "You need it for all those commissions of yours."

Ginny continued to protest as Draco set up the computer and Cast the proper spell on the computer's modem.

"There you go, Red," he grinned at her.

Ginny scowled at him.

"Shall I show you how to get on?"

Ginny opened her mouth to say she already knew but there was something in Draco's eyes that made her hesitate. Molly and Andromeda sang some excuse and left with Scorpius.

Draco pulled a chair up and started the computer.

"Been burning something, have you, Red?"

She started and looked down. Sure enough there was still a little ash on her jeans.

"Just some letters from Artaz. He keeps trying to get me to come over."

"Be careful with him, Red. He may be an asshole, but he's a powerful asshole."

"I'll keep that in mind," she muttered.

"I could help you, you know."

She looked at him, sixth year fluttering through her head. "I don't think I need that kind of help," she returned.

He grabbed her hand as she started away. "Ginny...I never went further than I thought you were comfortable with."

"Ever thought that might have been the problem, Silver?" she whispered. "Ever think I may have wanted you to go all the way?"

(A/N: Ha! Caught you! Bet you thought I was going to actually give you guys a flash back, didn't you? Not this time. So...Who thinks Ginny and Draco should team up and give Artaz hell? Raise your hands! (giggles) Okay, any way, I promise more preggers Pansy to come. I still have nine more years for this fic! Not to mention the sequel (Which I promise will be mostly RW/SM)


	8. Chapter 8

March 12th

Draco sat at his computer, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

He had been working non-stop on a new project and had just finished. A French newsletter had recently come to his attention and he had latched on to the newsletter with much fervor. His French had been rusty and still rather was but he had gotten the letter translated. He had found himself getting absorbed in the articles.

The articles were extremely informative and Draco enjoyed the project. A representative from the particular press had recently contacted him to let him know that she appreciated his effort and would be taking over from there. He tried to remember her name. Gabrielle something. DeFlores? DeLiquer?

He put it out his mind for the time being and focused on the task at hand. To reward himself for another magazine online and out of his hair, he had decided to join an online chatroom. He had done a bit of research but finally picked this one. The chatroom specialized in single witches and wizards.

Draco sighed, knowing he was being nervous and that it wasn't an attractive quality in him.

He forced his fingers to descend on the keys. He quickly filled out the personal information, which he then chose to remain private, meaning only friends could see it. Because he knew the Malfoy name still carried some connotations, not all of which were pleasant, Draco deliberately chose a screen name that would imply who he was.

He executed the commands and sat back. He was still nervous, dreading the idea that no one would want to be his friend.

"Dad?"

Draco looked over at his son and smiled. "What's up, kiddo?"

"I thought we were going to the movies."

"Of course we are," Draco replied, a weight lifting from his chest. No matter what happened, he always had his son.

March 13th

Ginny laughed as Ron called out another toast. She obediently raised her Guiness, echoing the toast and downing half the bottle.

It was a small miracle that all seven Weasley children had managed to free up their schedules for this one night. Hermione and Andromeda were watching the children. It was nice.

Of course she was pretty shit faced by now and therefore probably more than a little biased. A good beer buzz always made her happy with the world in general.

"Ginny!"

Ginny held still as both Fred and George kissed her cheeks.

"You're my favorite sister," George drawled.

"I'm your only sister," Ginny replied pragmatically after her beer soaked mind tabulated her siblings.

"But you're still my favs!" George returned.

Ginny giggled, a mite drunkenly.

"Ginny?" Fred muttered into her hair.

"Yeah, Fredders?"

George found this nickname hilarious and disappeared under the table where all that could be heard were his snorts of laughter. Fred on the other hand, looked moderately serious.

"I'm glad you broke Harry."

"You mean you're glad I broke up with Harry."

"That too."

Ginny's drunken mind was begging her for the chance to use her mouth and say exactly what she felt about her ex but instead she just grinned and took another swig of the beer. She wasn't that drunk…yet.

March 14th

"You did what?" Ginny demanded through the telephone.

Hermione hesitated a moment then decided Ginny's headache obviously wasn't that bad and so trudged on.

"You gave me permission, Ginny."

"I gave you permission to sign me up for an internet dating site?"

Hermione smiled into the receiver but did her best to keep her jubilation out of her tone when she replied.

"It's not an internet dating site, Ginny. It's just a chat room."

"For singles," Ginny replied drolly.

"Yes, for singles. And what's so wrong with that? Look, all you have to do is chat to them. Hell, if you want to troll for commissions, I'm fine with that. I don't care. Just give it a shot, okay? If you don't like it, fine."

There was silence on the other end then came Ginny's deep, exaggerated sigh. "Fine. Just email me the stuff. I'll give it two months."

March 16th

_She sprints down the hall, fast but not as fast as he is. He flings an arm around her neck, pulling her back into his chest. _

"_Where are you going, Weasley?" he purrs. _

_He can hear her smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?"_

"I **said EGGS OVER EASY!!!"**

Pansy shrieked and threw her plate at Blaise's head. Blaise grabbed Draco and pulled him down until they were both hidden by the kitchen island. The plate, full of bacon and scrambled eggs shattered against the wall behind Draco as he slipped out of the memory.

Across the room, Scorpius clapped his hands in delight. "Do it again!" he demanded.

Pansy immediately went pale at the realization of what she had just done.

"Blaise? Honey? Are you all right? I am so sorry, love!"

Blaise bounced to his feet and leaned over the counter to kiss his hormonal, pregnant wife.

"Don't worry, darling. We all have those types of days."

"What about me?" Draco demanded. "Don't I get an apology?"

Pansy just smiled at him. Draco's attention, however, was drawn to his son, who was eying his own plate of breakfast. Draco did not like that look.

"I believe we should get going."

Pansy followed his gaze and grinned. "Good call. Oh, before you go, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

Draco looked at her with suspicion. "What sort of favor?"

"Go on a date with the sister of a colleague."

Draco bit his lip. He didn't really want to go on a date, not yet. Blaise and Pansy were his friends and if he tried to explain it to them, they would probably understand but he also knew they agreed with his mother. They thought he needed to get out more.

So instead of refusing, Draco found himself asking, "Who is it?"

Pansy beamed at him and Draco felt lighter somehow. Like something heavy had been taken from him.

March 20th

Draco's computer chimed even as he began to shrug on his jacket. He hesitated then looked down at Aggie. Aggie heaved a great sigh and took a seat, knowing his walk would have to wait.

Draco moved to his computer and pulled up the page in question. His internet provider was telling him he had a new message. The sender line told him that it was from the chatroom he had signed up for. He had received several emails like this recently, requests for friends. He didn't have a ridiculous amount of friends but everyone seemed courteous so far, even those that had guessed his real identity.

He opened the email for a second, glancing at the username. BrighterBlood. He didn't recognize the username but he shrugged and clicked the button to allow the request. After all, what could it hurt?

888

Hermione leaned back with a smile. It hadn't taken her long to track down Draco Malfoy and even less time to hack onto the account she had made Ginny on the same chatroom. Ginny had changed her password and Hermione had had a little bit of trouble figuring the new one out but that hadn't lasted long.

Hermione logged off Ginny's account, pleased with herself and the world in general.

March 23rd

Tracey Davies played nervously with her handkerchief as she waited. Her date was running a little late but her own shyness and lack of self assurance were playing against her today. She was certain he was standing her up.

She looked up as a waiter approached.

"Your party is this way," he announced to someone behind him then stepped away.

At first Tracey assumed there was a mistake. For coming towards her was not one man, but two. The first was aristocratically tall and very good looking and she immediately recognized him as Draco Malfoy. The second was shorter but no less attractive, at least to Tracey. He too was blonde though his looked much more natural. In fact he reminded her of a surfer.

"Draco, there are only two seats here," the surfer boy announced, looking down at the table they had just reached. He smiled politely at Tracey and she smiled back tentatively.

"Yes, Creevey, because, as I was trying to tell you, this is a date. Between me and a woman," Draco drawled.

Creevey looked at Tracey then back to Draco. "What are you talking about? You said we were going to hang."

"For the last time, Creevey, I said I'll see you later. As in much later."

Meanwhile a waiter had brought a new chair and placesetting. "I do wish you had told us your party had changed to three," the waiter commented to Tracey who blushed.

"See?" Creevey pointed to the new setting. "I'm totally welcome."

Tracey giggled and Creevey winked at her.

Draco glared at him but said nothing, merely taking his place.

"I apologize for the leech here," Draco said.

"Leech?" Creevey protested. "I have a name, you know."

"Fascinating, _Dennis_," Draco snapped as the other took a seat.

Dennis smiled at Tracey. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Draco sighed a long suffering sigh. "I have a plan. You stop screwing up the basic website formats and I will gladly introduce you."

"Websites?" Tracey repeated, her interest peaked. "You're into the Web?"

"You could say that," Dennis replied. "This guy here created the whole thing."

Tracey eyed Draco with appreciation. "And what do you do, Dennis?" she asked.

"I'm one of the specialists for the Ministry. Draco here has been teaching me the ropes."

"Wait, so you make websites too?" Tracey asked, her mind putting two and two together.

Dennis grinned. "That I do."

"You wouldn't happen to be the DC who created that awesome Star Trek site, would you?"

Dennis' eyes lit up and they were off. Draco leaned back and signaled a waiter. He was going to need a lot of wine if he was going to make it through tonight.

March 24th

Draco threw his son over his shoulder and picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked above his son's raucous laughter.

"Draco? It's Tracey."

"Oh, hi Tracey. Did you have a good time last night?"

"Uh, yes. It was very nice. Um…I was wondering actually…I don't want to seem like a bitch, but could you give me Dennis' number."

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God, Tracey. I mean that in the best possible way, too. Creevey cannot stop talking about you. I want to strangle him. Please, date the poor sap."

Tracey giggled. "I'm glad there are no hard feelings then."

"Not even a little. You're a great girl, Trace, but I can tell you like Creevey more. Go for it."

He gave her Creevey's number then hung up.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Is Miss Ginny gonna marry that man?"

Draco frowned and turned around to see what his son was looking at. It was the front page of Witch Weekly. Ginny was on the front page in full color with Artaz. Artaz was apparently trying to hit on her and as Draco watched, Ginny punched him in the face. Draco smiled slightly as blood ran down Artaz's face but he was worried too. WW was calling them the perfect pair.

April 3rd

"What?" Ginny snarled into the phone as she snatched it off the hook.

"Is this a bad time?" asked the voice on the other end, laughter apparent in that recognizable voice.

Ginny sighed. "No, Silver. Sorry about that."

"Not a problem. Any reason you answer the phone like that?"

"Not one I want to go into. What brings you to my phone?"

"My son wants to know if you're planning on marrying Artaz."

"I'm going to kill who ever the fuck wrote that god damn article. I'm going to rip out her throat and her heart and curbstomp them into the fucking foundation of the Ministry," Ginny snapped irritably.

Draco chuckled. "So, that's a no?"

"That's a hell fucking no."

Draco was silent for a moment. Then, "How would you like to get back at him?"

Ginny pulled back on her automatic response and tried to remember how sixth year was. But with Draco so close and offering the chance to magnify their bond…all the bad of sixth year disappeared.

"Tell me more," she replied.

"I'd love to. Meet me for dinner, tomorrow night."

April 4th

Ginny glanced at her watch. She had just enough time to check her email before her dinner…meeting with Draco.

She signed on quickly. Seven new messages awaited her. Two were confirmations of orders she had placed earlier in the day. She had bought Bill a new pair of dragon hide gloves for his birthday which was fast approaching as well as a hard to find book on Magical painting. Ginny was considering taking up the art and so had started gobbling up as many of the books as she could find.

She deleted the three pieces of junk mail, which only left her with two emails. One was from Madame Malkin, thanking her for the commission and wondering if Ginny would be open to another one. Ginny checked her work load before replying that, yes, she would be able to squeeze another commission in.

The final email was from the chatroom Hermione had signed her up for.

Miss Weasley,

MalificentDragon has sent you a private message:

Hello…

To respond to this message, please click on the link below.

Curious, Ginny did so. She didn't remember friending MalificentDragon but she had accepted a lot of friends in the past few weeks. She was running low on time so her reply was short.

Hello to you.

Satisfied, Ginny signed off and grabbed her purse, though she knew she wouldn't be paying for anything.

888

_She walks down the corridor, a vision of loveliness. He wants her and she knows it. She smiles at him, coming closer and closer. _

"_Will you protect me, Silver?" she asks as he reaches for her. _

_He buries his head in her abundant hair. "Until hell freezes over," he replies. _

Draco watched Ginny enter the restaurant. She was still lovely and he still wanted her. Watching her, he knew at once why he was doing this. He was protecting her. Again.

Only this time, it wasn't some deep demon he was protecting her from. And it wasn't himself. Though God knew she needed protection from him.

He rose as she approached, smiling.

Despite herself, she smiled back.

"Glad you found the place," Draco commented as Ginny took a seat.

"It wasn't too hard," Ginny replied. She paused as a waiter handed them each menus. Draco ordered a bottle of wine that Ginny was sure cost more than the past five commissions put together.

Ginny bit down on her lip to keep from saying anything.

"What did you want to talk about?" Ginny asked.

"Don't you want to look at your menu?" Draco asked. "There will be plenty of time for chat later."

Ginny glanced at the menu, intent on ordering the cheapest thing. Everything on the menu sounded delicious but she noticed one problem.

"Draco, there are no prices on this menu."

Draco paused as though he too were looking up this fact. "Why, so you're right."

"Draco…"

"I'm paying. Get over it."

Ginny opened her mouth to voice another objection but thought better of it. Instead she chose an appetizer. In her defense, she assumed that scallop spoons were an entire meal.

The waiter returned with the bottle of whatever Draco had ordered and poured it into each of their glasses. Ginny took a sip. At first she was caught by surprise by how alcoholic the drink tasted. Then her tongue got a hold of the actual taste of the drink. It tasted slightly woody, a taste Ginny had never had in a wine before and she liked it.

"What can I get you two for an appetizer?" the waiter asked.

Ginny opened her mouth but Draco beat her to it. "I think we'd like to start with a plate of scallop spoons to share."

Ginny closed her mouth again. It suddenly occurred to her that she was expected to order one of each course.

"Excellent choice. Madam? What would you like for your soup?"

Ginny glanced down at her menu, trying to translate the Italian in which it was written. Draco muttered something from across the table and suddenly the menu was in English. Ginny made a mental note to thank him and ordered the duck soup. The waiter quickly took the rest of the orders then bowed himself off.

"Thank you," Ginny said once the waiter was gone.

Draco waved his hand. "That's what I'm here for. Now then, let's talk strategy, shall we?"

"Okay," Ginny replied, taking another sip of the wine.

"Let's say we both don't like Artaz. Is that about true?"

Ginny smiled. "Something of an understatement, but yes."

"He seems to think you're going to marry him someday."

Ginny made a face and Draco chuckled. "Now that you've made your intentions clear, let's see. The easiest way would be to take you off the market. Get you dating Creevey senior or Longbottom. Unfortunately, that won't work with Artaz. He'd see that as a competition and try harder. So that's a no on a boyfriend for now."

"What about you?" Ginny asked, half jokingly. Draco stared at her in silence as the scallop spoons came. Ginny was just starting to feel awkward when Draco put three of the six scallops on a plate for her.

"Interesting idea, but that one's not going to work either. I'd be able to hold my own against Artaz but he covets everything of mine."

Ginny rose to her feet in indignation.

"What ever happened to protecting me, you silver bastard?" she hissed.

Draco stared up at her. He was silent for a moment, chewing his scallop. Finally he swallowed. "Fine. First thing tomorrow, I'll go by the daily prophet and announce our engagement."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Then what did you mean, Ginny? I'm doing the best damn job I can to keep you safe but that's not fucking enough for you, is it?"

"I want…" Ginny began then crumpled back into the chair. "I'm a princess in a fucking tower," she groaned. "Artaz is prowling below, scaring off all my knights. My brothers all think I'm involved with him. Half of them are estatic and the others are appalled. There's a rift in my family and it's all my fault. All because I can't convince everyone that I'm not into Artaz."

Draco watched her then signaled a waiter. After a hushed conversation, a glass of sherry appeared at the table. Draco crossed to Ginny and handed it to her then knelt beside her as she took a sip.

She shuddered then gave a weak smile. "Thanks. I needed that." She took a longer drag. "What is this?" she asked.

"Amontillado."

"I'd ask if you're joking, but frankly, I'm afraid of the answer."

"Ginny, this is as much my fault as Artaz. In trying to keep you safe, I've screwed up royally. He's not the only one guarding that tower of yours. But I'm going to make this up to you."

"How?" she asked.

He smiled. "Leave that to me. It's gonna take a couple of months but we're gonna make this work."

April 11th

Ginny's stylus flew over the tablet as she focused her attention on the new project. She had gotten herself the tablet as a present for making her first wizarding painting. The commission had come in not long after her meeting with Draco, who she hadn't heard back from.

She dwelled briefly on that night. After her outburst, they had talked about more neutral subjects. Dinner had been fantastic and Draco had been a gentleman even when the Amontillado started making her a little…happy.

Ginny shook her head and focused on the picture she was working on. This wasn't a commission, but rather something she just wanted to do. She had been reading a lot and she wanted to try her hand at drawing Arwen from the Lord of the Rings books. The biggest challenge so far had been making Arwen look original and not like Liv Tyler.

Her computer beeped and she frowned. She minimized Photoshop and pulled up the internet. She had forgotten she was still logged onto the chatroom.

A brief message told her MalificentDragon had just signed on. Ginny hesitated then clicked the link that would let her send him a message.

BrighterBlood: Hey.

After a few moments a reply came up.

MalificentDragon: Hey back.

BrighterBlood: So, have we met before?

MalificentDragon: Doubt it. Unless you go to a lot of Man-U games.

BrighterBlood: Haven't been to one in a few years.

MalificentDragon: No kidding? You actually know who they are?

BrighterBlood: Who the hell doesn't? Really.

April 13th

Artaz looked up as the doors to his study burst open. Artaz leaned back, mildly alarmed.

Draco smirked at him and pocketed his wand. Never let it be said that Draco Malfoy didn't know how to make an entrance.

He stalked quickly across the room. "Artaz, we need to talk."

"Before you destroy another of my priceless custom built doors, yes, I agree."

"Priceless? Hardly. Do you know why I'm here?"

"Any chance it's about the lovely Miss Weasley?"

"How astute you are, Artaz. It is my understanding that you endeavor to court Miss Weasley."

"You know damn well that she's going to be mine," Artaz snapped, the mask slipping.

"And you know damn well that I cannot allow it," Draco purred.

"Why the hell not?" Artaz snarled. "Because you fancy that little gutter slut?"

A muscle ticked in Draco's cheek but his tone was cordial when he replied. "No. Because she's damaged goods."

"Are you talking about Potter? Malfoy, the whole damn world knows about that."

"No. I'm talking about Tom Riddle."

"What the fuck does Voldemort have to do with this?" Artaz snapped.

"Oh? Then you didn't know?"

"Talk English, you fucking wanker."

"Flattery will get you nowhere. In her first year Ginny Weasley released the spirit of the Dark Lord."

Draco let that sink in. He hoped to God he was playing his cards right. There was the possibility that he was miss judging Artaz but he hoped not. He needed Artaz to be afraid of courting Ginny, even if only for a few years.

Hopefully that would be enough.

Artaz shrank back. Like most well to do wizards, his family had vanished during the war years and now the idea of bringing that name back into association with his own made him cringe.

"Perhaps…perhaps I can let her be for a while."

Draco nodded. What Artaz failed to see, however, was that while association with Ginny would tarnish his reputation, Draco had no such problems. The Malfoys were Dark supporters. Everyone knew that. But Draco didn't give a shit. Right now he had to do what was best for himself. And his son.

April 25th

"I don't believe you!" Ginny shrieked at Draco.

Draco winced, glad his son was away again. "Look, I got rid of Artaz, didn't I?"

"And how? By telling him I had Dark affiliations. That was bloody genius, you fucking prat!"

"I never said it was an idea solution."

"You're unbelievable, you know that, don't you?"

"I'm doing the best I can, Ginny."

"Don't call me that."

Draco shrank back and stared at her. The anger in her eyes was echoed sharply by her pain. Draco reached for her then stopped himself. "Whatever you say, Red," he whispered.

Tears blossomed in Ginny's eyes and she tore out of the room.

(A/N: Two flashbacks? What!? Hope you all liked it! Artaz will be back as well as PreggersPansy. FYI: this chapter was over 4k words long. So don't complain about the length or the next time I update, it will be seven words. :p


	9. Chapter 9

(A/N: I don't want to hear a word about length on this fic. This chapter is almost five thousand words long. That being said, I hope you like it!)

May 3rd

Draco pushed Scorpius. His son crowed with delight as he swung higher in the swing. "Higher, Dad!" he commanded, imperiously.

Draco chuckled and obeyed.

His mirth disappeared as four very familiar figures entered the playground.

Ginny Weasley and her three kids.

Ginny froze. Draco completely understood. He considered getting his son down and leaving then realized that the playground was mostly deserted. If Ginny didn't want to come by him, there were swings at the other end of the park.

Ginny seemed to read his intent and relaxed slightly.

As if on cue, her kids took off. The boys ran for the slide and the girl, Lily, ran for the swings. She picked one a few away from Scorpius. She appeared to be having trouble getting on the swing. Ginny was distracted with her boys and didn't notice Lily.

Draco pulled out his wand and muttered a quick charm, giving the girl an extra little boost up and into the swing.

The girl giggled and began swinging herself by pumping her legs. Scorpius watched her for a few seconds then began to duplicate her moves, swinging higher and higher.

Draco watched his son, smiling.

After a few minutes, the sound of raised voices caught his attention. He looked over to see Potter and some chick arguing with each other.

Ginny seemed acutely aware of them too, for she focused her attention on her sons as Lily swung higher and higher.

"I thought you said she wasn't going to be here," the woman hissed at Potter.

"How was I supposed to know that, Morgan? I'm not a mind reader."

"Well, make her go away!"

"Those are my kids she's with, Morgan. I can't just ask them to leave because you don't like to see her."

"You still like her, don't you? Admit it!"

"Morgan, can we please not go into this right now?"

Draco watched the exchange with mild humor. He felt a little bad for Potter but only a little. The prick really did deserve that girl.

"Daddy!" Lily suddenly screamed in glee. "Watch me, Daddy!"

"Lily, no!" Ginny screamed.

Draco turned, wand already out. The little girl had jumped off the swing but had miscalculated. She was too high and even as he watched, she began to pivot in the air. It was going to be a bad fall, Draco could tell and he did the only thing he could think to do.

He shouted a command. Instantly the girl's feet shot out from under her until she was upside down. Lily had a strange look on her face as she hung suspended and Draco winced, anticipating the crying to come.

He was shocked when Lily burst into gales of laughter instead.

"Do it again!" she commanded, clapping her hands.

Ginny and her sons rushed over and Draco gently lowered the girl into her mother's arms.

Ginny's gasp of surprise was the only warning Draco got before Harry Potter's fist slammed into his jaw.

Draco staggered back and glared at the man before him.

Potter had his fists up, ready to fight. It took him a second to realize Draco still had his wand out and so drew his own.

Draco looked down at his wand then over at Harry.

Calmly, deliberately, he pocketed his wand.

"C'mon, Scorpius. Let's go home."

His son seemed to sense the delicate animosity here and obeyed his father silently.

"Wait!"

Draco turned to see Lily running towards him. She stopped at his feet and beckoned him closer. He leaned down and she kissed his cheek. "Mommy taught me to say thank you when someone does something nice. So thank you."

Draco smiled at the girl. "You're most welcome."

He straightened up again, catching Ginny's eye for a second. She looked torn between hating him and appreciating him for what he did. He just nodded at her.

Then, taking his son's hand, he walked off.

May 9th

BrighterBlood: Hey? You there?

MalificentDragon: Barely. What's up?

BrighterBlood: Haven't talked to you in a while.

MalificentDragon: Been busy. Sorry.

BrighterBlood: That's okay.

MalificentDragon: You okay? You seem…dunno, less talky.

BrighterBlood: Less talky?

MalificentDragon: You know what I mean. What's bothering you?

BrighterBlood: Boy troubles.

MalificentDragon: Sorry. What's he done?

BrighterBlood: Some really stupid shit. The problem is…he's actually made up for it.

MalificentDragon: That doesn't sound like much of a problem.

BrighterBlood: It's not. It's just…he hasn't said he's sorry.

MalificentDragon: So he thinks that what he did was right?

BrighterBlood: I don't know. I never thought of it that way. I guess he did what he could and…Hey, got to go. Thanks for the talk.

MalificentDragon: Anytime.

May 13th

Draco shifted the toothpick to the other side of his mouth and scowled at his computer screen again.

"This can't be right," he muttered.

"What can't be right?" Pansy asked.

Draco glanced over at her. At three months, she was just starting to show. According to Blaise, her mood swings had tempered out but Draco still didn't trust her not to launch more flatware at his head.

"This page is saying that the annual number of visitors is in the millions."

"What page is it?" Pansy asked, playing with Scorpius's hair.

"A site for The Lord of the Rings."

"Are there pictures of Orlando Bloom on it?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Because every girl half my age still loves him. Don't worry. You couldn't have known."

"And how do you know so much about Florida-"

"Orlando."

"Bloom?"

"How the hell do you think? I crushed on him like crazy until the Kingdom of Heaven came out. Talk about crap."

Draco laughed. "So are you going to pass on bad habits to my impressionable young son."

"Hardly." She leaned over and met Scorpius' gaze.

"Scorpius, do not date a girl with hair shorter than yours. Do not star in movies that might have the potential to be good if you cannot act. In fact, don't act unless you can. Got it?"

Scorpius saluted her and Pansy smiled, pleased. Draco just smiled and shook his head.

May 19th

Draco scowled at the computer, wondering just what Creevey had done this time. He had received a frantic call from the computer apprentice not an hour ago. Creevey had refused to tell Draco what he had done to the computer. Draco had long since thrown the kid out of the room, to handle matters himself.

"Hello, Silver."

Draco looked up in shock and surprise.

Ginny stood in the doorway, looking nervous yet serene at the same time.

"Hi…Red," he whispered.

"Hermione told me you were up here."

"What can I do for you?" he asked, nervously running his hands through his hair. He wanted to fall on his knees and beg for forgiveness but his pride wouldn't let him.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out then took a deep breath before continuing. "I know you were just trying to help. You weren't very helpful but that's not entirely your fault. I should have been trying to help you help me instead of being a backseat driver. I wanted to apologize and thank you again for what you did in the park the other day."

Ginny went silent, staring at him. He knew she wanted him to say something, anything and he was trying but his tongue was pretty tied.

"Thank you," he finally replied. "I know I'm not the smartest fellow around and I know I've done some stupid shit but…how is it you always manage to forgive me?"

She muttered something then went scarlet. "Um, that's all then. Got to go."

She darted out of the room and he watched her go. Had he heard her right? Had she really said "Love makes us do funny things"?

He tried to put it out of his mind and focused on the computer in front of him instead. He had enough to worry about.

May 24th

Draco blew his wet hair out of his face and glared at Aggie.

Aggie did not look at all sympathetic. He merely shook a second time, dousing Draco yet again with cold water.

From his corner of safe seclusion on the back patio, Scorpius giggled. Draco looked over at his son. "Think this is funny, do you?"

Scorpius put his hands over his mouth and shook his head but it was clear that he did indeed think the scene before him was funny.

In Draco's defense, it wasn't his fault that he was stuck in the middle of the fish pond with a large and very wet lab. The whole ordeal began when Scorpius was playing catch with Aggie. At first they had been playing on the main court out front but as the day had progressed, they had moved back into the back yard.

A little less than twenty minutes ago, Scorpius had slunk up to Draco's study to inform his father that their ball was in the fish pond.

Draco had considered telling his son that there were dozens, nay, hundreds of identical tennis balls down at the tennis courts but he had decided to humor his son. So he rid himself of shoes and socks, rolled up his pants and went in after the floating tennis ball. It was then that Aggie decided he liked water. Or more importantly, he liked tackling Draco while he was standing in the water.

Draco rose to his feet ingloriously and glared at his son.

Scorpius giggled harder.

"That's it," Draco announced and surged out of the pond and after his son. Scorpius squealed in protest and ran.

Draco grinned and gave chase.

May 31st

"This is the best movie ever," Lily muttered around a handful of popcorn.

James gave her a look but he didn't refute her claim.

Ginny smiled down at her kids. Typically, Lily had fallen in love with the story itself, but James and Albus both seemed to enjoy the fight scenes. She was wondering how the Fire Swamp scene would be received when the phone rang.

"Want us to pause it, Mom?" James asked as she got up.

"Don't worry. I've seen it."

She grabbed the phone on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Ginny? It's Fred. Look, I've got a favor to ask you."

"Sure thing, Fred. Fire away."

"Can I…can I commission you?"

Ginny tilted her head back. "Well if you want to but I'm kinda busy right now. Besides, you're family. Tell me what you want done and I'll have it done for you."

"I really would like to commission you."

"Fred? Did Mum put you up to this? Because between the restaurant and my commissions, I'm getting more than enough."

"No, Ginny. Mom didn't put me up to it. Look, it's hard to explain but I want a real commission from you."

Ginny poked her head back into the living room. On the screen, the man in black and Vizzini were engaged in their battle of wits.

"Why don't you come over for lunch tomorrow?" she suggested to her brother. "We can talk business and you can stop thinking this crazy thing about paying me."

Fred sighed. "Okay, Ginny."

"All right. See you tomorrow."

Ginny hung up the phone and rejoined her children. "This is a good part," she said as the two characters on screen drank their wines.

June 1st

Fred was fidgeting and Ginny had no clue why.

"Relax, for God's sake. Come on, Fred. What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why the sudden interest in commissioning me?"

"We've commissioned you before."

It was true, her brothers had commissioned her twice in the past three months for promotional pictures for various products. But this felt different. She thought for a moment before she got it.

"Yeah, but that was always you _and_ George. This time it's just you."

She grinned in triumph and he shook his head with a chuckle.

"Always too clever for your own good."

She waited.

"Fine," he sighed. "I want you do a sketch of her."

He slid a photograph over the table to her. Ginny picked up the photo and examined the girl in it. There was something familiar about her and it took Ginny a moment…

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "Is this…?"

Fred sighed. "Yes."

"Seriously, Fred? Cho Chang?"

June 9th

Ginny scowled and gently ran her charcoal across the paper. She looked at the picture again and nodded in pleasure.

She leaned back, flushed with pleasure.

From her sketch pad, Cho Chang stared back at her. Her lips were open as if she was caught in the middle of saying something and there was a hint of amusement in her eyes.

The image had been hard to do but Ginny had reveled in a challenge like this one. She also realized how little she drew people of Asian influence. She had done a few sketches of Angelina for George a while back but that was different.

She set down her tools and walked to the phone to call Fred. The kids were regrettably with their father today and Ginny was missing them acutely.

Halfway to the phone, it began to ring. Ginny jogged over to the phone, picking it up. "Hello?"

"Well hello, darling!"

Ginny immediately hung up the phone.

She folded her arms and glared at the phone. Sure enough, not five seconds later, about the time it would take a normal guy to figure out she had hung up on them and hit the redial, the phone rang again.

"Ginny? I think you hung up on me," Artaz crooned.

"Really? You don't say," Ginny snapped.

"…are you mad at me?"

"Gee, you just spread rumors that we were a thing. No, I'm perfectly delighted to be hearing from you,"

"Wonderful! Because…"

"That was sarcasm, you arrogant prick. If you ever call this number again, I will fucking castrate you. Get out of my life and stay there."

"But…"

Ginny hung up the phone.

She waited for another ten seconds then picked up the phone to dial a number she knew by heart.

"Hello?" answered the voice on the other end.

She took a deep breath. "Silver? It's me. I need your help."

There was a pause then…

"I'll be right over."

888

Draco barely let the phone disconnect before he was back on the phone. Blaise answered on the second ring and assured Draco that he would be over in a second. No sooner had he hung up than Blaise Apparated.

"Thanks, Blaise," Draco said, patting his friend on the shoulder.

Blaise nodded. "Pans will be here soon. She doesn't want to Apparate this late on so she's Flooing."

Sure enough, a second later, there was a flash of green light and a very pregnant Pansy stepped out of the fireplace.

She nodded to Draco. "We've got this covered, love."

"Are you sure?"

She fixed him with a look that said 'I'm pregnant and you dare to question my judgement?'

Draco kissed her cheek and clapped Blaise on the shoulder. "Thanks again. Scorpius is out back. Tell him I'll be home soon."

Pansy nodded, holding her protruding stomach. She was four months in and the bump in her stomach was very noticeable though still easy to hide.

Draco nodded to them and himself then Apparated out.

Ginny was sitting in her livingroom. A bevy of sketch books lay around her, all open to different drawings. She was bent double, clutching her knees.

Draco crossed to her. Without thinking, without even looking at him, she rose to her feet, wrapping her arms around his stomach. He pulled her to him and held her tight as sobs wracked her body. Her arms tightened and he replied in kind, fighting back tears of his own, tears of rage.

It took only a few minutes before Ginny had cried herself out and loosened her grip. She smiled up at him through red eyes. "Thank you, Silver."

He brushed away her tear. "Don't mention it, Red. Now. What is wrong?"

She took a seat, drawing him down with her. He obeyed wordlessly.

"It's Artaz."

Draco tensed. "Is he back?" he demanded.

Ginny nodded. "I don't understand it. I'm not saying I approve of your methods, but I would have thought that he would get out of my life."

Draco rubbed her back. "I know why he's back."

Ginny looked over at him. "Why?"

"Because I like you. And he knows it."

Ginny stared at him. He didn't meet her gaze. "He wants you, Ginny, because he knows I want you."

"…oh," Ginny finally managed.

Draco stood up. "Yeah," he said, pulling out his wand. "Oh."

"Wait!" Ginny cried out as he raised his wand to Apparate home.

He hesitated a second and that was just long enough. Ginny propelled herself to her feet and barreled into him. They fell together, her arms around him. He landed hard, breath knocked out of him.

"Don't go."

Draco looked down at her, still trying to catch his breath.

"If you love me," she whispered. "Stay."

June 10th

Draco looked over at the woman beside him. He knew he needed to be going but he had to wait until she awoke.

They hadn't done it. Not for lack of want. He had sense the latent desire in both of them but he had known. She was fragile right now. He didn't need to test her seeming indestructibility.

She stirred and he pushed himself up on his elbow. She opened her eyes at the movement and those hazel eyes found his.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she returned, just as softly.

Draco could sense the tension between them. _If you love me, stay_. She had said it and he had…he had stayed.

"Should you be getting home to your son?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Blaise and Pansy are watching him but they're going to blow something if I don't get home soon with juicy details."

"Do they know you were here?" she asked.

He tried to read her but she was closed to him.

"No. I just told them I had to see to an old friend."

"Tell them," she said, sitting up.

He followed her up. "Why?" he asked.

She met his eyes. "Because you love me," she said. Then she reached out and ran a tender hand across his cheek. "And because I love you."

Draco felt his jaw drop. She smiled slightly.

"We're not going to work," he told her because she needed to know.

"Yes we will."

He wanted to agree with her but he didn't want those fragile hopes of hers to be crushed. So he just took her hand and kissed her palm.

"If you say so, mi amore."

888

"Where have you been?"

Draco looked up as Pansy pulled herself to her feet, glaring at him. She was having trouble so he reached over and offered her a hand.

"Where have you been?" she repeated, hand on her stomach.

Draco thought long and hard about that. As Pansy waited impatiently, Blaise came into the kitchen, carrying Scorpius on his back.

"Daddy!" Scorpius cried out and wiggled to get down. Draco reached over and took his son, smiling at the boy's enthusiasm.

"Hey, champ. How are you?"

Scorpius made a face and Draco laughed. "That bad, eh? Tell you what, why don't you go get us some breakfast?"

Scorpius nodded and scampered off as soon as Draco set him down.

"Where have you been all night?" Blaise demanded the moment Scorpius was out of hearing range.

Draco looked at the two of them and remembered Ginny's words. This wouldn't work and he knew it. But when he opened his mouth, all he could say was "With Ginny Weasley."

June 15th

"Her bridesmaids will have to wear green. It's the only color that won't clash horribly with her hair, of course."

Blaise shot Draco an apologetic look as his wife continued to prattle on about the wedding she had planned for Draco and Ginny. Draco just smiled and shook his head. He had more important things to be doing than shattering Pansy's illusions.

Important things like destroying Artaz.

In the past five days, Draco had seen Ginny twice. Both times had included his son and her kids. The kids got along well which was good.

Pansy seemed to take this as a sign that Draco had fallen in love again and was busy planning his wedding. Draco wanted to tell her that this wasn't necessary but she seemed to be having fun. As for the falling in love part, well, that had happened a long time ago.

"So what is your plan, Draco?" Blaise asked.

Draco sighed. "I have not a fucking clue. I can't just go out and start hitting on Ginny. Artaz will take that as a direct challenge and I'm not entirely sure which of us would win in that situation."

"So cheat. It's not like he won't."

"That's the problem. I cheat. He cheats. It's a never ending cycle, Blaise."

"Okay, so what? What do you have planned?"

Draco dropped his head to his hands. "I don't know. Nothing."

"Well that's maddingly unhelpful."

Draco allowed himself the barest of smiles. "I'm open to suggestions."

Blaise was silent for a moment. Then a rather wicked looking grin split his face. "Oh my."

"What?" Draco asked, suspicious.

"My, oh, my."

"Blaise…"

Blaise ignored him and leaned over to kiss his wife on the forehead. "Pansy, my love, you might want to start writing down those wedding ideas. I'm sure Mrs. Malfoy will want to see them before too long."

June 21st

Ginny grabbed the phone on the second ring. Lily squealed in delight as she clung to her mother's leg.

"Hello?" Ginny said into the phone.

"Is this Miss Weasley?"

"That it is," Ginny said, trying to place the voice. She knew it, didn't she?

"This is Narcissa Malfoy."

Ginny bit back a gasp but only with an effort. That was where she knew the voice. What did Narcissa Malfoy want from her?

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Malfoy?"

"I am interested in commissioning you, Miss Weasley. It was my understanding that you offer portraits. Is this correct?"

Ginny struggled for words. "Yes, I do."

"Wonderful. Do you offer oil paintings?"

"I do," Ginny replied and managed to list her usual prices.

"Those sound more than reasonable. Now then, I would like to commission you for a series of portraits."

"All right," Ginny said, pulling out the note pad she kept for this sort of thing. "How many?"

There was a pause then Narcissa said, "Nine. Is that too many?"

Ginny jotted the number down then tapped the end of the pen on the pad. Her work load was decent right now. She had three more books she was illustrating for. Other than that she was pretty free.

"It will take a little while, but I certainly can. Who are the subjects?"

"I will have the reference photos for you before long. In fact, why don't we meet for lunch on Saturday?"

Ginny nodded then remembered that Narcissa couldn't see it and answered verbally. "That would be fine. Where would you like to meet?"

Narcissa named a restaurant that was way out of Ginny's price range, even with these commissions. She gulped but agreed to meet her there.

June 25th

Ginny nervously twisted a strand of hair around her finger and tried not to look like she was out of place. She forced her hand down and managed a smile that didn't feel too self conscious.

"Miss Weasley, I take it?" the waiter asked.

Ginny nodded. "I'm supposed to be meeting Narcissa Malfoy here."

He nodded back and gestured for her to follow him. She did so, trying again not to be nervous.

Narcissa was sitting at a table by herself and smiled as Ginny approached. She had a manila folder lying on the table beside her.

She smiled at Ginny as the younger woman approached.

"Miss Weasley. Please, have a seat. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of ordering for you."

Ginny looked down as a waiter set a plate of salad on the table before her. The salad was huge, consisting of romaine lettuce, chilled bacon bits and chunks of lobster meat, all lightly doused in what tasted like house made Caesar dressing.

Ginny ate a few bites. The salad was delicious but she forced herself to set her fork down after a few bites.

Narcissa smiled and set down her own fork. "Let's get down to business, shall we, Miss Weasley? Here are the nine individuals I would like you to paint for me."

Ginny opened the folder. The first few were expected. Draco and Scorpius. Narcissa herself, Bella, Andromeda. Ginny was surprised to see Tonks, Remus and Teddy as well. Then again, perhaps Narcissa was just updating her family tree.

The ninth picture was what really threw her for a loop.

It was her.

Ginny stared down at the picture of herself. Then she looked up at Narcissa.

"What's wrong, dear?"

"Wh—why?"

Narcissa smiled. "I'm an old woman, Ginny. We all have our eccentric tendencies."

(A/N: In case you're wondering, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. Ginny and Draco will probably have at least one more falling out but I don't know yet for certain. I'm open to ideas.


	10. Chapter 10

July 1st

"You did what?"

Narcissa Malfoy simply sipped her tea as her son contemplated throttling her.

"I commissioned your pretty little flame. I must say, she's certainly worth the money. She sent me a few pictures of the works in progress the other day and I must say that I thoroughly approve."

"Mom! That's not what I'm talking about!" Draco protested.

"Draco, what is the problem?" Narcissa sighed. "Heaven knows you like this girl. I might not be the most observant of mothers, but even that dense brother of hers can tell that you fancy the girl. Now, the way I see, my son, is you have two options. Either pretend that you know nothing about this, or make the best of it."

Narcissa rose to her feet, setting down her tea. "Thank you again for the tea, Draco."

July 4th

"I'm not sure I get why you celebrate this holiday," Draco said.

Blaise shrugged and flipped the burger on the grill.

"He just wants an excuse to use that grill," Pansy said. She was looking good. Her stomach was bigger by the day and Blaise had gleefully informed Draco that his wife was having twins.

Scorpius sat on the patio at Pansy's feet, playing with marbles.

"Well, if this isn't the happiest little family ever."

Draco looked up as Artaz came around the corner of the manor. He narrowed his eyes at the guy. "What are you doing here?" Draco demanded.

"Looking for the woman of my dreams," Artaz said.

"Have you tried looking in the sofa…in hell?" Blaise suggested.

"Blaise!" Draco snapped, looking significantly at Scorpius who was suddenly paying attention.

"Sorry, Draco. Scorpius, I want you to promise me you won't turn into a moron like this fellow here."

Scorpius saluted Blaise. "Roger, Uncle Blaise!"

Pansy snickered from her seat and Artaz turned his attention to her.

"Why, Blaise. I'm so sorry your wife went and got fat on you."

Pansy's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Draco," she commanded, holding out a hand.

Draco reached over and helped his friend to her feet.

"Artaz. I am not so easy going that I won't retaliate and you aren't so big I can't throw your Irish ass over my knee."

Artaz grew an interesting shade of red and this time Blaise and Draco snickered while Scorpius clapped his hands.

Draco stepped over to Artaz. "Huff and puff, little wolf, but keep in mind what a dragon can do to you."

"She's going to be mine, Malfoy."

"No."

Artaz and Draco both looked over at Scorpius as the boy got to his feet. "Miss Ginny belongs with Daddy."

"Why?" Artaz snapped and Draco discretely punched the other man in the kidneys.

"A'cuz she loves Daddy," Scorpius said matter-of-factly.

July 6th

Ginny picked up Scorpius, planting him on her hip and holding him as Draco picked up Lily and Albus. James followed behind them at a slow pace, clinging to his Mom's shirt tails.

"That worked nicely," Draco commented.

Ginny and Draco had met for dinner earlier in the evening, leaving the kids with Dennis Creevey and his new girlfriend Tracey. Not many of their friends knew about them yet and Dennis was easy to blackmail into keeping his mouth shut.

Ginny didn't know what Dennis had done to her kids, but she had never seen a more worn out set of kids.

"They're going to sleep well," Ginny said.

"Where do you want to take them?" Draco asked. "Your place or mine?"

"Your call," Ginny said.

"Mine," he said definitely.

"All right," Ginny agreed.

Draco started to reach for his keys but stopped. "Can't quite get them," he said. "Can you?"

Ginny pulled out the keys. "Ashton Martin?" she said with a smile.

He grinned. "Hey, if I'm gonna play with Muggle toys, I might as well make sure they're good ones."

Ginny giggled. "And the fact that James Bond drives one makes no nevermind?"

Draco looked at her blankly as she opened the car. "Who?"

Ginny giggled again. "I hope you can drive stick."

July 7th

Ginny rubbed her neck. She wouldn't dream of telling Draco that he sucked at driving stick shift. Luckily the kids had been too out of it to wake up during the four mile drive home.

"Sorry," Draco said as he caught sight of her rubbing her neck.

She smiled at him. "Don't be. Even with whiplash, last night was wonderful."

"Dad!"

Ginny looked up as Scorpius, followed by her own brood, stormed Draco's bed.

Scorpius bounced up onto the bed, pausing at the last second to help Lily up. He flung himself at Ginny and she caught him, laughing.

"What is it?" Draco asked as Lily nestled against his chest. The kids were quick to adapt to the new situation and were happy to have two parents in their lives again.

"When is Teddy going to school?"

"Pretty soon. Early August," Draco said.

"Where's he going?"

Ginny had been afraid of this question. It wasn't that Teddy wasn't welcome at Hogwarts...he'd just been offered a position in the accelerated learning program...in Japan. It was a tremendous opportunity. But it meant a decision. Teddy was too young to have made any serious friends at school and the war was still too recent for anyone, even children, to willingly trust.

Japan, however, opened a new world of doors.

"We'll see," Ginny said.

July 10th

"It's a great school, Ginny."

Ginny sighed and stopped her pacing, taking a seat across the table from Hermione. Of course that would be Hermione's opinion: great school. Send the kid.

"It is. But I don't know if I could bear having him that far away. Hermione, Teddy is like a son to me."

"Go with him."

Ginny looked over her shoulder as Ron came into the room.

"What?"

"Take the kids, Ginny. Go with him. Go somewhere where no one knows about you and Harry. Where you don't have to worry about running into him every five seconds."

"Ron..."

"I know you, Gin. You worry about it and I hate that." He crossed to her and took her face in his hands, kissing her forehead. "I know it doesn't count for much, but I want you to be happy. If running away with Teddy and...and Malfoy is what it takes, then so be it. Be happy."

Ginny rose to her feet and hugged her brother. "Thank you so much, Ron."

He laughed. "I still hate Malfoy though. And tell him if he doesn't make an honest woman of you in a year, then I'll kill him."

July 21st

"Teddy?"

Teddy looked up from the massive tome he was reading and for a second he reminded Ginny so much of Remus that she had to choke back a sob. Blinking away the sudden sting of tears, she jerked her head. "Come into the kitchen. We have some things to discuss."

With a half shrug, he closed the book on a slip of paper and followed her into the kitchen.

Andromeda sat at the kitchen table and Ginny took a seat beside her. "We thought we should give you this," Ginny said, handing him a pale blue envelope. Teddy took it, his fingers shaking slightly.

"Is this..."

"Open it."

Teddy opened it, a grin splitting his face as he pulled out a ticket for Japan.

"I got in?"

"You got in, sweetheart," Andromeda said, hugging him.

He was fairly bouncing. Then he seemed to sober. "What about all you? Aunt Ginny? Are you coming? Granmma?"

"If you want us to," Ginny said.

Teddy frowned down at the ticket. "We need seven more."

Ginny looked down at him. "Seven?"

"Granmma, Aunt Ginny, James, Lily and Albus."

"That's only five, sweetheart," Ginny pointed out.

He looked up at her with a smile. "One for Draco and Scorpius."

July 30th

"I'm so very happy for you," Narcissa said as she and Ginny watched the movers hang the portraits.

Ginny blushed. "I didn't think you would approve."

Narcissa glanced at her. "Why wouldn't I? I may not be as open minded as my sister, but I'm not a vehement purist like Bella was. You and my son are happy and that makes Scorpius happy. And Andromeda and Teddy. See? Four family members happy. And I won't be upset to get new ones."

Ginny felt a little smile edge in. "Thanks."

"I must say," Narcissa said, looking at the portraits. "I am glad you were able to finish these before you left."

Ginny looked at them all, running the gambit of Narcissa's relatives and would-be relatives. Draco looked stunning. Ginny had chosen one of his wedding photos as a basis and he was smiling, looking thrilled at the world in general. Scorpius was captured forever at age nine, a puckish smile on his lips. His gaze was slightly averted, as if he was staring at something just past the viewer and he was amused.

Narcissa's portrait was again based on a wedding photo, but Ginny had taken a few liberties. in her portrait, Narcissa looked older, wiser and happier. Bella too looked...sane. Well as sane as Ginny could make her look. Andromeda was based on a picture of her from in her early thirties and she looked youthful and exuberant.

Tonks and Remus were side by side and on Narcissa's request, they had been portrayed without the scars that they had worn at their funerals. Tonks looked vibrant and happy and Remus looked so too. In Ginny's mind, with her keen artistic imagination, Tonks and Remus were holding hands below the edge of the frames.

"When do you leave?"

Ginny looked away from the picture of Teddy in his school robes. "In a few days. Teddy, the kids and I are going over to set up and get him ready for school. Draco will join us soon."

"And your children?"

"They think it's the best adventure ever. They are quite clear on the matter. If they don't like Japan I am more than happy to bring them back here."

"They'll love it. And the school is hard to get into, but I'm sure they'll make it."

Narcissa looked at the final portrait in the row and Ginny followed her gaze. She stared back at herself from the gilded frame, a half smile on her lips.

"Take care of my son, Ginny."

888

Ginny closed the trunk and looked around, trying to determine if she'd forgotten anything. The furniture was staying. They would buy new in Japan.

She sighed heavily. Draco, Andromeda and the kids had gone on a few days ago and she missed them fiercely. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her stomach, wishing Draco or one of the kids was there.

She pulled herself from her thoughts and made her way downstairs. She had some things to take care of yet.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs as the doorbell rang. Mildly annoyed, she walked to the door and opened it.

Artaz stood on the doorstep, scowling at her.

"What do you want?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes," she said, purposefully blocking his way. "Teddy got into a very good school overseas. End of discussion. Good bye."

"This isn't over, Ginny."

She flinched at his tone and he took that slight weakening of her stance for granted, pushing past her and into the house. He grabbed her by the upper arms, shoving her back.

"You're mine," he snapped.

Ginny had had quite enough bullying to last her a life time. She brought her knee up and into his crotch at the same moment that a rather heavy looking vase crunched against the back of his head. His eyes rolled up and he fell to the ground in a fetal position.

Ginny looked up to see Pansy waddling into the room from the direction of the kitchen. She had her wand out and sneered down at the fallen form of Artaz.

"I never liked him," she said.

"Pansy..." Ginny said, "You're leaking."

Pansy looked down at the hem of her skirt and swore. "I think my water just broke."

August 1st

"They're adorable," Ginny said, cradling Aurian Zabini as her brother Er'ril lay on their mother's chest.

Pansy smiled. Motherhood suited her well. After three hours of labor, Pansy had brought two perfect little children into the world.

"Where's Blaise?" Ginny asked.

"He was in while you were sleeping. Now he's Apparating all over the globe to tell everyone he knows that he's a father."

"He's been a father for nine months," Ginny pointed out.

Pansy sighed. "I never said I married him for his brains."

Ginny giggled as Aurian yawned.

"Ginny?"

She looked from Aurian to her mother. "What is it, Pansy?"

"What really happened? During my seventh year? What happened between you and Draco?"

Ginny sighed and took a seat on the edge of Pansy's hospital bed. "It's a long story..."

"We've got time."

(A/N: There you have it. The third to last chapter. I know I said this story was going to continue for another eight years but I got to this point and everything in me screamed end it. The next chapter, as you might have guessed, is going to be all flash backs of Ginny's sixth year. You asked for it. :) any way, after I finish this one, we'll hop over to Once Upon a Dream, which is the sequel and follows Scorpius. There will be a fair deal of DG just to keep everyone happy.


	11. Chapter 11

(A/N: Please bear in mind that this chapter takes place in the past. It will not make any sense if you think otherwise. Mmkay? Good! Then enjoy!)

September 3rd

Ginny paused, kneeling in the hall to tie her shoe. She watched the shadow approach and stop. Sighing, she looked up at Draco Malfoy who was smirking down at her.

"Hello, Malfoy," she said, rising to her feet again.

"Well, well, another year started."

"And I'm all alone in this scary castle," she said. "Whatever will you do about it?"

He leered at her but she rolled her eyes. "Back off, Malfoy. Don't you have enough to worry about without me kicking your ass on a daily basis."

"Look, Red, I don't like this war any better than you do."

"Really?" she drawled. "Coulda fooled me."

"Really and you and I are in the same boat here."

She couldn't resist a laugh at that. "Tell me another one, Malfoy."

"Fine. But when the tide gets too high for you, don't forget that I'm here for you, Red."

September 10th

Ginny swore as he bag split again. She knelt, picking up her books. Behind her she could hear the whispering laughter of the Slytherin third years who'd tripped her. For no real reason, her irritation gave way to the urge to cry. She remained on her knees, her books clutched to her chest as she tried not to give in.

It was ridiculous. She had only on her own for a few days and there were plenty of the other students around.

But Neville was doing sabatogue and many of the others hadn't come back. The Creeveys were over in America for the year and she didn't blame them.

She fought back her tears and tried to ignore the laughter as it grew louder.

Abruptly it stopped. Seconds later, a pair of polished Italian shoes entered her vision.

Draco Malfoy knelt beside her and began helping her put her books in her bag.

"Given any thought to my proposal?" he whispered.

"What proposal?" she asked with a sniffle.

"You help me keep out of this war and I'll protect you from those stupid bints."

"My friends will hate me," she told him, getting to her feet.

"Look around you, little Red. Gryffindors are in scare supply this year."

It was the truth but she hated to hear it.

"I don't want your false sympathy."

"Who said it was false?" he said.

September 13th

"Fine!"

Draco looked up as Ginny slammed her palms on his table.

"Fine?" he repeated.

"I'll do it."

He blinked at her. "Why the sudden change of heart?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" she asked, turning to leave.

He surged to his feet and caught her around the waist. "Yes it does. As of now you're mine and I will destroy anyone who touches you or hurts you."

"Playing it to the hilt, aren't we?" she asked with a ghost of a smile. "You know we don't have an audience."

He brushed back a strand of her hair and flicked his eyes to the left. She followed the gesture and caught a glimpse of a Slytherin's green robes.

"I always have an audience," he told her before letting her go.

September 15th

My, he does get into the role, Ginny thought as Draco glowered at a passing Ravenclaw. Still she had to admit that his arm around her waist felt almost as nice as Harry's.

From across the hall she caught a glimpse of a Slytherin's robes and Pansy Parkinson approached the two of them.

"This a new toy?" Pansy asked, looking at Ginny with hooded eyes and a slight smile.

"Hardly," Ginny replied drily, narrowing her eyes at Pansy.

Pansy grinned. "Oh, I like this one, Draco. Not your usual clingy type."

"Then she's much too good for him," Blaise said, coming up behind them and throwing an arm aroung Pansy. Pansy leaned into him with a natural ease that Ginny envied. Somehow she'd never felt that comfortable with Harry.

"You're little Miss Weasley, aren't you?" Pansy asked. "Where is that insufferable brother of yours?"

"Out saving the world," Ginny replied.

"Mmm, gotta love a hero," Pansy drawled. "Tell me, do you think Granger would mind if I stole him?"

"What?" Blaise sputtered. "Pans? You're not serious."

Pansy disengaged from him, tossed Ginny a wink and walked off, repeating Mrs. Pansy Weasley.

"I have to say," Ginny said, "your friends aren't horrible."

"They are the best Slythering has to offer," he pointed out.

"I wouldn't expect anything less. Blaise is right though."

"About what?" Draco asked, inching her closer as Dean Thomas seemed to be floored by the sight of Ginny's cleavage.

"I'm too good for you," she replied, slipping out of his grasp.

He snatched her wrist and spun her back to him. Before she could do more than open her mouth, his lips were on hers. Kissing Harry had been like her first broom ride: a heady rush of adrenaline that stole her breath and made her smile.

Kissing Draco was like a Pepper-Up potion. Strike that; it was like fifteen all taken at the same time. Fire raced through her viens and stars exploded behind her eyes and she realized she'd shut them. He pulled away at last and a small sound escaped her.

She felt a blush heat up her cheeks and opened her eyes to stare up into Draco's smiling grey ones.

"You know, Red, there is nothing in the world too good for me."

"Whatever you say, Silver," she replied before turning and sweeping away.

Once around a corner where he couldn't see her, she collasped against the nearest still surface (which she later found out was Goyle)and began swearing in every of the seventeen languages she knew curse words in.

September 25th

This was a collossal mistake, Ginny thought. She stood in the middle of Hogsmeade, staring at the passersby. She was supposed to be meeting Draco here and she wasn't sure if she wanted him to show up.

"Miss me?"

She controlled her urge to yelp and turned to glare at Draco.

"Give a girl some warning. Why the hell are we doing this?" she asked.

"Because I like flaunting my things," he said before leaning in to kiss her quickly. Again, fire rushed through her and it took a moment to remember why she was mad at him. She pushed him back.

"I'm not yours, Malfoy."

"Call me Draco, Red."

"Fine...Draco."

He smirked like he'd won and she had to resist slapping that smirk off his face.

"Look, Ginny, this is the easiest way to make sure everyone knows that I've taken you under my arm to protect you. Besides, you need some new threads if you're going to be my girlfriend," he said.

She suddenly realized the direction they were headed in. She stopped. He grabbed her arm and began walking again, dragging her with him.

"Draco! I can't let you buy me clothes!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course you can."

"Draco!"

He laughed, a sound so intoxicating that she wanted to drink it in forever. His laughter still ringing in her ears, he dragged her into the clothes shop.

October 13th

"Ginny?"

She looked up from the essay she was working on and blinked in surprise to see Neville standing in front of her. They were in the common room and practically alone. Ginny was in a set of her new clothes. While she didn't like Draco's methods, she had to admit that it was nice to wear clothes that actually fit her and fit her well. Her jeans felt like a second skin and the cashmere sweater she was wearing fit like a hug.

"Hey, Nev. I bet I know what this is about," she said, setting down her quill and gesturing for him to sit down.

He did so and folced his arms. She returned his posture. "This is about Malfoy, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Gin, I know he's helping us by keeping the Slytherins on their side, but you don't have to do this. We can make some sort of solution."

"Thanks, Nev. But he's actually been...bearable."

Neville smiled. "Coming from you, that almost sounds like a compliment."

She smacked him and went back to her essay but she was smiling.

October 20th

"You look good in Armani," Ginny conceeded.

Draco smirked as if he'd won, which he technically had.

"We have to head out now if we're going to make it on time," he said.

"You still haven't told me where we're going."

"Out," he said.

Out was the best way to describe it. Dressed like a modern prince and princess, he in his Armani pants and dress top, she in a dark green velvet dress and silver lined black cape, they walked out and around the grounds.

"I have to give this to you," she began. "You have a romantic streak in you."

"What can I say, Red?"

A suspicion started in her. "Are you trying to woo me?"

He smiled down at her and stole a kiss. "Ginny, if I was trying to make you love me, you wouldn't even stand a chance."

Walking around the grounds, him a comforting prescence behind her, she had to grant that he was probably right.

November 1st

Despite everything she thought and felt about him, Draco Malfoy looked cute when he was asleep. Ginny sat in the infirmary, watching him sleep.

"Ginny?"

She looked up and smiled at Neville's worried face. Neville glanced at Draco with a curious look on his face. "What happened?" he asked quietly, trying not to wake up Draco.

She lifted up her arm which was in a sling. "Fell on the pitch. You'd know that if you bothered coming to matches anymore," she admonished gently.

He had the good grace to look guilty. "Sorry, Gin. You know..."

"I know, I know," she replied.

He looked back to Draco, his face a curious mix of suspicion and resignation.

"When'd he get here?"

"He carried me up," Ginny said. "Or so I'm told."

"He's really taking this role seriously, isn't he?" Neville said.

November 13th

"Where are you taking me?" Draco asked.

Even without looking at him, she could sense his smile. He'd hardly left her side since the incident at the Quidditch match. Somehow she wanted to read more into than there probably was. He was just keeping her safe like he'd promised to.

"There's a room I want to show you."

"The Room of Requirements?" he asked.

She glanced at him. The past suddenly felt bigger than it had ever been around them and loomed like a physical presence. She pushed it back to the corner where it belonged.

"Hardly," she said. They had reached the door by then and she pulled it open for him.

He stepped inside and swore in surprise. She knew what he was seeing. Even though she had seen it dozens of times before, she still felt her pulse race as she followed him in.

Wind caught at her hair and the sweet, salt smell of the sea came to her. She stared past him, out over the beach and the water. Waves broke against the sand.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I honestly can't tell you," she replied. "I found it several years ago. It's always warm here and always beautiful. I'm not even sure this place exists outside of here."

"You ever brought Potter here?" he asked.

The comfortable feeling shattered and she turned back towards the door. "See you later, Malfoy."

November 25th

"What's got you in such a mood?" Nigel asked, taking a seat beside her at the table.

She gave a half shrug and returned to her essay. Since the incident in her special room, she'd been doing her best to avoid Draco and so far it had been working.

Until now.

Draco Malfoy stormed into the study room like an incarnation of Ares on the warpath.

"Sorry, Gin," Nigel said with a grin. "He bribed me."

She glared at him as he got up and left.

Draco loomed over her, arms crossed and a glare on his handsome face.

"You're avoiding me," he snarled.

"Well spotted," she said with faux nonchalance. Inside, her heart was beating too loudly and she wanted to throw up.

"I can't protect you if you avoid me."

"I just needed a little space," she said. It wasn't a lie. Not really.

He grabbed her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. "Do you know what I'd do if I thought you were lying to me?" he whispered, his voice husky.

"What?" she asked with more bravado than she felt.

"Pray you never find out," he murmured then captured her lips in a seering kiss.

December 3rd

Ginny was spending less time avoiding Draco. It wasn't really a presonal choice. He was just doing better at making it hard to ignore him. It was like he'd memorized her entire schedule and had enlisted Nigel, Blaise and Pansy. Everywhere she turned, one of them was waiting, either Draco himself or one of the others to hold her still until Draco could get there.

Things reached a climax that day. Winter break was starting soon and Draco was going home for it. Ginny was relieved to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

She stepped out of her final class for the day and was looking forward to some down time. All her essays were done and she had nothing better to do.

She shrieked as someone grabbed her by the waist. "Malfoy? Malfoy, what are you doing?" she yelled as he threw her over his shoulder.

"I'm kidnapping my girlfriend," he informed her.

She hollered insults at him but he didn't seem to hear her as he carried her down the halls. She caught sight of familiar faces as he took her down a flight of stairs. Neville smirked at her and Blaise and Pansy conjured up flower petals to shower her with.

She was telling him what he could do with a part of his anatomy, when he pushed open a door and the familiar scent of ocean air bombarded her.

He threw her down on the white sand and stood over her, a frown on his face.

"Are you going to get out of my way?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"Not until we take care of two things."

"Which are?"

He closed his eyes like he was in serious pain. "I'm...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I compared what we have to...to what you and Potter had."

She stared at him and sat down in the sand, surprise sapping the strength from her legs.

"I never did," she whispered. "You're the only one I've ever brought here."

The pain left his face and he sat down opposite her. "Thank you," he said. "That's all I wanted to know."

"There is...there is one other thing I have to tell you," she said.

"What's that?"

"The person...You're the only one I've brought here but you're not the only one I've been here with."

He frowned. "Who?"

"He doesn't go here anymore. Please, let it be at that."

He did.

(A/N: So...there you have it. In case you're wondering, no, that is not the entire story but that's all Ginny's telling for this chapter. You'll get the rest of it in the next (the final) chapter.

To - I usually don't write the ones where Ginny and Draco are older. They annoy me in those ones but I started this one and I was really happy with where it went so I kept it up. Glad you like it and I look forward to hearing from ya again!

To Roni2010- Glad you like it! Sorry for the delay!


	12. Chapter 12

(A/N: This is it. The end of this one. Took me a long time but so worth it. And fear not, I have a most of the first chapter of Once Upon A Dream done and I'm thrilled with it. )

August 2nd

"That's it?" Pansy demanded. "But that can't be it. If that were all there was to it, you two would have been together ages ago."

Ginny smiled a sad smile. Her throat was feeling scratchy and she took a drink to soothe it. Pansy pulled out her wand and tapped Ginny's glass. The water turned icy and coated her throat.

Ginny set her drink down. "Thanks."

"Tell me the rest of it," Pansy demanded.

"There really isn't that much to tell. We got along fabulously until March. Then I did something stupid and he did something stupid and before you knew it, we were both furious at each other and that was how things ended."

"What did you do?" Pansy asked quietly, cradling Er'ril in her arms.

"I lied," she said.

"About what?"

"About Harry."

"You..."

"I told him Harry and I had gone all the way," Ginny sighed. "I don't know what I was thinking but I..."

"You wanted Draco to try to top Harry," Blaise said, coming into the room with Aurian.

Ginny fired a finger gun at him. "On the nose. I wanted him to...to want me like that but I didn't think he did so I took him to the room and asked him if he wanted to."

Pansy sighed. "That was stupid."

"Wasn't it? He said a few things after that and left me there. After that, I threw myself into helping with the DA. I only really saw him one other time after that."

"At the final battle?" Pansy guessed.

"We were in the Room of Requirements. He didn't want to go in and confront Harry. I figured he'd kept up his half of the bargain so I hexed him and Crabbe and Goyle. Until recently, that was the last I'd seen of him."

"Ginny...Why did you want to do it with him?" Pansy asked. "I mean, I get that you loved him and all, but you couldn't have just waited?"

Ginny sighed. "Ask me who showed me that room."

"Who?"

"Tom Riddle. Every memory of that place has been tainted by his presence. But with Draco...with Draco all that I thought about was him. I wanted one final memory there to wipe Riddle from that place forever."

Pansy blanched as she took in the significance of what Ginny was saying but said no more.

August 13th

"It's a lot smaller than the Manor," Draco warned Ginny as she stepped into their place.

"Hogwarts is a lot smaller than Malfoy Manor," Ginny reminded him, looking around. The place had the feel of a Japanese home. Open spaces and rice paper partitions. There were some very Western acoutraments as well. All in all, it was nice and bright feeling.

The kids rushed down the stairs and threw themselves at Ginny and Teddy, all talking at once. Teddy followed them off for a tour and Ginny hung back with Draco.

"It's lovely," she assured him.

"But it's not quite perfect yet," he whispered. He circled around her and knelt before her, pulling a small box from his pocket.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly.

"He may have loved you and he may have gotten you but I loved you first and I will love you to my last and I will never let you go. So please...make my life perfect."

"Draco...Harry wasn't my first."

"That's...that's a little nonsequitor," he informed her.

"Just hear me out. Please. If you still want me then I will be yours forever."

And she let it out. Her disaterous first year with Riddle, her true motivation behind taking Draco to the room with the ocean, her devastation when he didn't want her. All of it.

At the end she remained there, breathing hard, eyes closed. She was afraid to open them, fearing for what she wouldn't see.

Something warm slipped up her ring finger and she opened her eyes. Draco was no longer kneeling. He took her face and kissed her tenderly.

"Let me try this again. Fuck Potter. Fuck Riddle and the horse he rode in on. Fuck them all. Be mine forever. Because I can't imagine a world where I cause the sort of pain you must have gone through. But I want one where I keep it from you forever."

"My brave silver dragon," she whispered.

"My beloved red princess," he returned, kissing her again.

(A/N: Okay, all, sorry for such a short final chapter but now you know all! Muhahahahahahaha! Hope you guys like it! The sequel should be up sometime in the next month. Again, it's called Once Upon a Dream and will mostly be Rose/Scorpius but I will make sure to get some DG action in there. At least every other chapter, mmkay?

To Roni2010- Thanks! I've had fun with Draco over the years.


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